This year is almost history and the ONLY that thing that matters now is your ability to finish the 4th quarter strong. Expecting to get better results from the same old behavior will only succeed in perpetuating your current situation. So, how can you crush it in the 4th quarter?
What follows is your end-of-year game plan, five strategies for Finishing the Year Strong!
STRATEGY #1 GET FOCUSED!
It’s time to take off your rose-colored glasses. On average, sales people lose over 27% of their sales to “no decision”. You need to take a serious and realistic view of the opportunities in your sales pipeline and stay focused on those that are truly closeable. Focus on the top opportunities and abandon the rest! Grab a copy of our Opportunity Assessments Checklist to help you get started.
In addition to the checklist ask yourself “What is the risk to my client’s business if they do not buy my product?” and if you can’t answer that question with a persuasive and quantifiable answer, it’s time to move on to the next opportunity.
STRATEGY #2 GET SERIOUS
With time breathing down your neck, you have no choice but to get serious, set crystal-clear goals, raise the bar, and step up your game. Live and work to your potential. The moment you decide to get serious, to raise your standards, and commit to finishing the 4th quarter maxing your quota is the moment everything changes in your life. Remember, hope is not a strategy.
STRATEGY #3 REFUSE TO GIVE UP
Those with the character to do what it takes to finish the year strong don’t allow the indignity of a poor year-to-date performance to keep them down. Every great achievement and comeback in history has been the result of the choices, determinations, and creations of the human will.
Successful sales people acknowledge that their back is against the wall, accept the sins of past performance, analyze opportunities and obstacles, strengthen their resolve, and jump to their feet again. When you are down, or below target, other people will write you off. Do not let them define you – maintain your dignity, commit to finishing the year strong, and refuse to give up.
Strategy #4 DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY OR DO DIFFERENT THINGS
A strong 4th quarter is dependent upon extraordinary execution skills. The better you execute, the better you perform, and the stronger you finish. It’s that simple. Expecting to get better results from the same old behavior will only end in digging a deeper hole. It will NOT get you to a superior level of performance.
Therefore, finishing the year strong necessitates new and better execution skills. In short, things need to change. Do you need to do things differently or should you focus on doing different things? This is a subtle but important distinction, and if you have any chance of closing your execution gaps you must change your strategy.
STRATEGY #5 BE CLEAR AND PRECISE IN YOUR EXECUTION
It’s not the big who eat the small; it’s the fast who eat the slow. It’s the prepared that eat the unprepared. According to CSO Insights, “54% of sales people who call on executives are not prepared.” Invest time in researching your account and clearly understanding their business issues. Most importantly, how you can improve their business outcomes. This will help dramatically improve your time to close!
Let’s also be perfectly clear, you MUST take massive daily action and turn the pursuit of speed into your primary weapon for finishing the year strong. As you work towards the goal of finishing the year strong, you must understand that there will NEVER be a day that will not require dedication, discipline, perseverance, accountability and the opportunity to execute with bold conviction.
