End of Month Stress? No problem!

Are you stressed at the end of every month, feeling the pressure to produce your numbers and make goal? If so, read on. Recently a major telecom company called our office to complain that their salespeople were "waiting until the end of the month to close", creating a major problem in their organization. Not only was this procrastination reeking havoc with senior management attempting to forecast, it was creating a major problem with their technical staff having to flounder around and react to an impossible schedule. Financially this was costing the company a tremendous amount of lost revenue.

If you are one of those end-of-the-month closers, or if they work for you, take note. The tips below will help you and your sales team from waiting until the last few days of the month to make goal.

 

1. Create a sense of urgency with your customers everyday. Here are some ideas of how to do this:

    *If you business is dependent on shipping a product, talk to the customer about inventory. Maybe delivery is faster if ordered before the 18th, for example. Customers never like to wait, so this can be a real benefit to them.

 

*If you are in a business which requires either product or service training, you'll need to schedule the sessions. By communicating about your trainer's availability, your customer may decide that they'd better get on the calendar.

 

*If you are in a time-sensitive business (one that is dependent on a season or weather, for example), time is always of the essence. Performing the work or shipping your products  based on nature is the best excuse to close early! After all, you don't have control of the weather or the calendar.

 

*Uncover your customer's deadline. For example, if you are selling something that goes into a trade show and your customer's biggest show is going to take place soon, put the time-frame on the customer to get rolling to make his/her deadline of the show.

 

Bottom line on timing is that most salespeople don't know how to give their customers a deadline for the order. We use this technique in our office all the time. For example, a client may say: "Well, we're not in a hurry to book training at this time."  I'll then ask, "Oh, so when are you considering having the program?" The customer says, "Around October." "Well, considering that my October calendar is half full already (which is the truth), let's go ahead and take a look at some dates."

 

See how easy it is? What about in your business. Here's what might happen. The customer puts off the decision. You say, "Nancy, I can understand your hesitation to go ahead with this software order. However, if your goal is to have everyone up and running by August 1st, we'd better consider getting the installation on the books. Otherwise, you may not make your launch date. So what do you say we go ahead with the order?"

 

Remember, create urgency to close and reduce your stress. What else can you do?

 

Well, walk around. Move out of  your seat, get some exercise, and go outside. Recent research shows that walking outside gets air in your lungs and provides an endorphin rush. I just read an article this week about how streams, ponds, running water, and green space create a sense of happiness and wellness. Go find some nature!

 

You know that "stressed" spelled backwards is "desserts". Not bad, if you like chocolate. Grab a snack of dark chocolate and you'll get some antioxidant benefits due to the flavonoids in chocolate. Enjoy your moment of pleasure as your smack your lips. (Yum!)

(c)Renee Walkup, SalesPEAK, Inc., All Rights Reserved, www.salespeak.com   678 587-9911