Sometimes ho ho ho feels more like whoa whoa whoa. As in…How can I close a couple more deals before everyone disappears? And how can I make our solution a priority for my leads come January?
Maybe you’ve had a tough year and gotten a lot more “Nos” than you’re used to. Or maybe your year was okay, but with the slowness of the holiday season settling in, you’re starting to worry about further economic downturns.
When the sales environment is tough, it can be challenging to stay upbeat and confident. But stay upbeat and confident you must.
During our holiday episode of the Closing Show Live, called Sleigh Your Targets, we chatted with four sales experts to help us buck up for the final push of Q4 and the year ahead: Tyler Lessard from Vidyard, Amy Volas from Avenue Talent Partners, sales trainer James Buckley, and sales development director Jesse Gittler.
Watch the full live event for their best tactics or keep reading for our favorite takeaways.
How to close a few more deals in Q4
Want to hit your Q4 quota? There’s still time to squeeze in a couple more deals. Here’s how:
Help your buyers feel more confident in their decisions
Your buyers have a lot riding on their purchasing decisions. They need to make the most of their budget and show their team (and their boss) that they’re fully capable of their responsibilities.
You need to be sensitive to where they lack confidence, and then help fill in those gaps.
“Most of our prospects and buyers lack confidence in making decisions. Do everything you can to create that confidence with your buyers that you’re trying to close out in Q4. Let them know what you’re going to do to make sure they’ll be successful with your solution.” - Tyler Lessard
For instance, you might hop on a call to share the exact dates of your implementation plan, launch, and post-launch support.
Focus your energy on the deals with signs of urgency
You need to spend the last week before the holidays putting all of your energy and time into the top few deals. Deals with a sense of urgency should be your priority.
Talk to the account executives in your organization who have been closing deals in the past few months and get a good understanding of which customers have been deciding to buy right now. It might be that they have a growing team and need a new solution. In other cases, they have a shrinking team and need greater efficiency.
Match up those motivations with your current pipeline to find similar deals.
“Once you know those urgency factors, you can zero in on the deals that are demonstrating those urgencies instead of just casting a wide net.” - Tyler Lessard
Keep your chin up
The best thing you can do at this time of year is to keep your optimism and energy up. Amy suggests that you ignore most of the worries and negativity coming your way.
“We’re in a correction and if you’ve been in sales for 10 or 15 years, you’re in for a different ride than you’ve experienced before. So you need to control what you can control. Just because everyone else is feeling doom and gloom, doesn’t mean you have to. Mute out the noise and do your job.” - Amy Volas
If you’re going to spend any time feeling worried, direct that to your customers. What are they worried about? Be curious and empathetic so you can find opportunities to help them.
How to prepare for a more successful 2024
2022 didn’t start off too bad. We were still feeling the afterglow of getting together in person and that beautiful tech boom. But then things started to slow down pretty quickly.
Suffice it to say that we don’t know what 2024 will bring. Here’s how to prepare for whatever comes your way.
Start the new year right now
Don’t wait for 2024 to roll around. You can work on your Q1 prospecting and follow-ups right now.
When it comes to tackling the new year, the ideas are endless. Below, Jesse offers an easy, actionable example to help you get ahead.
“Go to your software that records calls and search for anyone who told you to call them back next year. Record a unique, specific video now, then use the first week of January to send them out.” - Jesse Gittler
Assume the best and take control
Great sellers have a sense of confidence that is positive, inspiring, and helpful—not cocky. James recommends that we use the power of assumptive language to our advantage.
“Say something like, “It looks like we’ve got a green light here,” then ask the lead to walk you through their buying process. Next, explain your selling process. This way, expectations are set, timelines are managed, everyone’s on the same page, and there are no surprises.” - James Buckley
If you have a champion buyer on your side, make sure that you’re asking them if they want you to be a part of their internal conversations. Let them know you’re happy to be available and join in.
Always be thinking a few steps ahead of where your buyer is at, and come up with helpful ways to progress them to the next stage.
Be prepared to create more self-serve experiences
More and more people prefer on-demand, self-service experiences. They expect companies to provide them with self-service solutions, including self service portals so they can resolve their problems on their own. They don’t want to hop on a call with a salesperson unless they’ve already established trust in you. Even if you’ve taken on the role of a trusted advisor, your buyers might still want to keep their calendars clear.
All of this means that you’ve got to put more effort into creating resources, videos, email responses, etc that your buyers can consume on their own time.
“In 2024, I really encourage you to go from a content hater to a content curator to a content creator. I’m not saying every salesperson needs to become a social media guru. I’m saying don’t be shy about creating a custom walkthrough video. Self-serve your customers with unique information customized to them.” - Tyler Lessard
Put the right amount of effort into your social media presence
While not every seller needs to be LinkedIn famous, every seller should have some sort of presence. This might be a few high-quality posts that you pin to your page and a bio that focuses more on your prospects and less on yourself.
When prospects receive cold outreach, they often turn to your profile right away.
“The majority of social media users look up a seller on social media before they decide to give a seller their time. Create enough of a presence so when people check out your profile, they think the call will be valuable and not a waste of their time. You can win more conversations based on that credibility.” - James Buckley
What to do if you’re looking for a new position
What if you’re stuck in a lurch? What if you’ve recently been laid off, or you feel stifled in your current role? Rest assured that despite prevalent layoffs, companies of all sizes are still hiring.
Use these tips to land your next job.
If you were laid off, take a moment to grieve
Jesse was recently laid off, and he reminded us all that it’s ultra-important to take a moment to feel all of your emotions: the shock, the anger, the sadness, the optimism, the excitement, and the fear.
“There’s a grieving period for people who get laid off. Feel that. Don’t resist it.” - Jesse Gittler
Give yourself time to feel sad, but not too much time. At some point, you’ve got to pick yourself back up.
Track your accomplishments for yourself and your future employer
One of the best ways to move from inaction to action is to remind yourself what a baddie you are.
“Write down your accomplishments and all of the things you did great. Even send yourself a video of all of the things you achieved. This will remind you of your strong skillset and help you have specific achievements to share during interviews.” - Jesse Gittler
If you haven’t written or recorded these achievements yet, hop to it. You want to capture them while they’re fresh. And in the future, keep a running list of journal entries and videos lauding your achievements so you always have them the next time you’re hunting for a job.
“The number one reason people don’t get invited back during the interview process is they can’t clearly share what they accomplished previously or how they did it.” - Amy Volas
Go the extra mile
When you put in the extra effort to land a job, you show the hiring manager that you mean business.
“Prospect your way into a role. Don’t just fill out an application. Send them a message on LinkedIn. Send them an email with a video.” - James Buckley
At the end of the day, the sellers who will close out Q4 with a bang and ring in the near year confidently are those who pay attention to customers’ needs, believe in themselves, and take action.
