5 Ways to Up Your Sales Game During the Holiday Season

By Alicia Brayboy December 20, 2011

The holiday season is a good time to capture last-minute opportunities and reflect on strategies for success in 2012. Here are 5 tips we’ve compiled since Thanksgiving:

1. Get noticed during the holiday lull

Sales consultant, Mark Hunter, noted on his blog that “[Thanksgiving] is a great week to pick up new business customers who might never have found you otherwise, but suddenly fall into your lap because their existing supplier is too caught up on the holidays to take care of business.”

This is also the time when many gatekeepers are on vacation. If you haven’t had much luck reaching decision-makers, now is the time to pick up the phone and start dialing.

2. Capture unspent budget

Unspent budgets can represent immediate sales opportunities.

In ‘Overcoming the Pre-Holiday Delay When Prospecting’, Heather Kivett, President of sales training firm Resolution Systems, says that “you can sometimes use this period for finding prospects that have money left in their budget. Certain businesses have cash leftover from a positive quarter and they need to spend it before the start of the next year or they will lose it. These are the potential buyers that need to be targeted.”

3. Develop your sales skills

What sales skills do you need to work on? What are your goals? Are you looking to think more strategically and analytically about your territory? Or, do you need help with your softer skills?

How do you rate on S. Anthony Iannarino’s ‘12 Most Critical Sales Skills for B2B Salespeople’?

4. Get Scientific

Knowledge is power. Yet, it’s hard to ‘know’ each of your customers and prospects at a sufficient level of detail to help identify near-term, high-value sales opportunities and determine the right engagement approach and messaging for key decision-makers.

Many sales teams are turning to a more scientific approach to selling by transforming raw internal, external and social media data into deep, real-time, actionable customer insight. Learn how Lattice Engines enables sales teams to operationalize data-driven selling with sales intelligence software.

5. Donate

It is easy to get caught up with stress as we near the end of the quarter. Volunteering or donating to charity is a simple way to relax and uplift your spirits.

If you don’t know where to start, try a ‘Canned Sales Meeting’, as described by Paul Castain in Selling a Second Chance.

How are you taking advantage of the Holiday Season? Please share your thoughts below.

Alicia Brayboy is the Online Marketing Associate for Lattice Engines. She manages the website, demand generation, corporate branding and design and for Lattice Engines’ Inbound Marketing efforts. With Amanda, she is one of the voices behind the twitter handle @Lattice_Engines and jointly manages all social media streams for the company. Prior to joining Lattice Engines, Alicia worked for IBM, Experian QAS and SimpleTuition where she focused on social media, search engine optimization, promotions and overall Internet Marketing. Alicia Brayboy received her undergraduate degree in Advertising at the Boston University College of Communication.

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