5 Ways to Beat the Summer Sales Slump

Business always gets a little slower in the hot sommer months. Customers are on vacation and nobody likes to make decisions. There are our top 5 tips for beating the summer sales slump.

1. Set a sales target.

It may sound obvious but if you don’t have something to aim for then you won’t know when you have succeeded. You shouldn’t have just a monthly sales target, if times are tight then this should be weekly. Write it on a board so the whole company can see it and make everyone understand what it is and why it is there.

2. Build a prospect list.

Build a prospect list  and work through this list every day. If you get turned down ask ‘do you know anyone else who might be interested?’ Everything you do should start with this list. How can I get more prospects on it? How can I convert more prospects to sales?
Don’t rely on your memory to keep track of this list. At the very least keep a good spreadsheet and ideally spend time setting up a CRM system.

3. Make 5 sales call a day.

A very easy mistake to make is to spend all of your time organising, planning and managing.  You will end up with a well managed failure. Set a goal to contact 5 sales prospects a day. Even if they don’t directly lead to a sale, it’s good to talk and sometimes further opportunities will follow.

4. Ask for feedback.

Find out what you need to change about your business. Provide a feedback form on your website, conduct a survey with Surveymonkey or email all of your existing customers. Get them talking!
You can’t change the state of the ecomomy but you can change your own business. If you don’t actively solicit feedback then you will never know what to change.

5. Give customers what they want

There is no point in trying to sell something that nobody wants. If after all of your sales calls and collecting feedback you realize that your offering is wrong, then change it, and quickly!