No, it’s not to closing the remaining opportunities for the year. Well, maybe that is a very important thing to do this week, but that’s not why you’re reading this post – your boss is probably telling you to do that every hour😊.
The #1 thing salespeople should be doing this week is making personal cold calls. No, this isn’t a cheap technique to promote the idea of prospecting. I’m not going to follow this with some philosophical reasoning to introducing yourself to strangers to ultimately sell them your technology and services. There are two practical reasons that this week, above any other week of the year, is an amazing week to make personal cold calls.
- People are in great moods. Let’s face it, sometimes the outcomes of your efforts have a lot to do with the mood of one or more people involved in the decision making. Think about the decisions you’ve made in the past that would’ve been different if you were in an opposite mood. Take advantage of this situation. If you see 30 people this week that are in a 20% better mood than usual, you’ll have an enormous difference in outcomes. Whether they’re gatekeepers, decision makers, or random people in the parking lot, you’ll have a ton more success this week than the other 51 weeks.
- Prospects more likely to schedule appointments with you “after the new year”. Unlike next week, many influential people are still working this week, and “after the new year” seems like a lifetime away. A simple statement like “I know you’re slammed right now, so I won’t take up any of your time. Can we get something on the calendar after the new year?”
Try it. Get out there. Physically stop by a prospect’s site, introduce yourself to strangers, offer valuable content, and ask for in appointment “next year”. And have some fun!
