Do not stop pushing new business development in the summer. If anything, push harder.
Ever have a prospect give you the old summer excuse when you try to pin them down?
"We can’t meet with you until September because everyone is on vacation."
Don’t pay any attention to it.
When you hear that excuse, remember... it an excuse. It isn’t real.
People hate to say “No".
They don’t like giving a definitive answer because it’s human nature to not want to hurt someone’s feelings.
So instead they throw out an excuse hoping you’ll just get the message and go away. Ignore it. They still need you summer, fall, spring, Christmas or whenever.
You can bet if their server went down without a backup on their only child’s wedding day, they’d find the time to talk to you.
Here’s the truth
There’s always some excuse.
"It’s summer and my team is on vacation."
"It’s the holiday season and everyone’s mind is elsewhere."
"It’s after the holiday season and we’re all playing catch up."
Sound familiar?
By the way, if this does NOT sound familiar, you’re not prospecting hard enough. If you or your sales team is out there grinding and trying to get appointments or following up on proposals, you’re definitely hearing it.
Do you or your sales team use it?
Many sales people allow these excuses to become their own excuse for not pushing as hard in the summer.
“Everyone is on vacation so I may as well pack it in for the summer too…”
It’s all a bunch of excuses so the prospect can avoid you without being an adult and telling you to just buzz off for good...
Or what you are selling just is not a priority to them right now.
Here’s 5 rules to remember when you get the summer excuse:
1: Never release a prospect from your sales attempts until they specifically tell you to stop. When they give you an excuse they are hoping you’ll just go away and leave them alone without them having to come out and say it. Unless they come out and say it, keep after them.
2: Gently (or not so gently) remind them about their competitors. If their competition is also slowing down in the summer then it’s the perfect opportunity for them to do things that give them a strategic advantage. If their competition doesn’t buy the summer excuse thing and is working hard then they’re out maneuvering them. Either way, they need to act.
3: You are here to serve. If you’re an MSP you owe it to your community to keep educating people on your service until they either take you up on it or tell you to stop. There is businesses out there right now being underserved by your competition. Or worse, not being served at all and just hoping nothing breaks.
Why on earth would anyone just wait until their IT breaks? You know that it’s in their best interest to have you managing their IT. So act like it and relentlessly preach your gospel!
4: Keep dripping ‘you' to them. Call them in a couple weeks. Send them emails. Share your content with them. If a news piece comes up about some new cybersecurity threat, share it with them. Keep ‘you’ in front of them.
5: The fortune is in the follow up. Keep following up until they are ready for you or tell you to stop following up.
Now get out there and keep selling!
In the wise words of Commander Peter Quincy Taggart:
"Never give up, never surrender."