Start Now to Get Ready for the First Week of January.

Becoming a Better Sales Rep — Post #39

Introduction.

The first week of January is a miraculous place for sales professionals. It’s a rare time of the year where you get the chance to get more and different kinds of deals on the way.

You yourself have most likely experienced the most prominent implications of this: the full gym in the first week of January.

So, let’s take a look at why the first week of January is such a magical place for sales and how you can prepare to leverage it to its fullest.

And, a little side note: This post is mostly addressing B2B and enterprise sales professionals. Many things don’t apply as much for professionals selling to consumers. However, I assume that, right now, the consumer sales folks are busy working their bums off and don’t have time to read blog posts anyway. (; Go crush it, folks!

Don’t Waste Your Time Doing Sales in December (Unless You’re Selling Consumer Goods)

I know many sales reps who invest a lot of time in getting their numbers up for their annual review. They put in more hours into their December work but — based on my experience — it doesn’t pay for five main reasons.

1. Your Leads Are Already in Year-End Mode: Your leads are already thinking about their vacation plans, how they’ll spend Christmas (if they celebrate it), and what amazing things to do for New Year’s. And, even if they have the highest work ethic one could imagine, they’re most likely — just like you — trying to get things done they haven’t gotten done all year. For some — mostly non-American companies — it’s also the end of the tax year and your leads might be busy with all the reporting tasks they’ve pushed off all year.
2. Your Leads Deliberately Schedule New Things for the New Year: Everybody loves their New Year’s Resolutions. This also applies to companies and your lead’s professional plans. And, therefore, this also applies to getting your amazing products or services rolled out. The chances that a company will roll out your solutions before the end of the year is marginal. Heck, it might even be that you’ll be wasting time having conversations because you’ll have the same conversations again early next year. Use the time better.
3. The Time Is Highly Limited: Face It: you most likely only have some two weeks in December considering the winter break and people taking vacation days. This highly limits your December impact. So, don’t beat yourself up if your numbers don’t look this good or if you just don’t have enough time to close a deal.
4. Your Lead’s Resources Are Limited: Both financially and regarding personnel. Budgets have already been allocated and spent. People are taking time off and catching up on vacations days they might otherwise lose. There is one catch, tho: Some managers just throw their budget out during the last parts of the year b/c they have left-over resources they might lose if they don’t use it. But usually, you should figure this out before mid of December. And you’re efforts might be better invested into Marketing than sales that no lead’s got time for during these days.
5. Your Leads Might Even Be Annoyed By You: “Gosh, don’t these salespeople get that we’re busy? It’s the end of the year!” You don’t wanna be that salesperson. Remember, if a lead doesn’t like you, they won’t buy from you, no matter how amazing your solution is. And an easy way to be disliked is to annoy somebody.

Photo by Artem Maltsev on Unsplash

Why Is January So Magical?

There are five main reasons why January is such a magical place for B2B and enterprise sales:

1. New Year’s Resolutions: Do you know anyone who doesn’t do New Year’s resolutions? I know many people who don’t follow up on them or say they don’t do them. But, most people still try them in the first few weeks of the new year. So, this applies to both personal and professional goals.
2. New Budgets: Usually the new year comes with new budgets. Now is the time where people start thinking about how to allocate their budgets — or at least the proportions they haven’t already allocated. Make sure your solutions are included in their thinking process.
3. Less Afraid of Failure: Most managers are evaluated annually. So, at the beginning of the year, people are more open to taking risks because they have an entire year to make up for it. So, now is a good time to try a new product or service.
4. Decluttering/Cleaning Up: At the beginning of the year, people oftentimes take time to go through their messages and their LinkedIn because they want to start the new year fresh and clean. So, your messages being in your leads’ inboxes increases your chances of getting them to talk to you.
5. Interest in New Things: People are more interested in new solutions because everything feels new and fresh. So, shooting out messages while people are in this mindset is particularly effective.

Photo by Kaleidico on Unsplash

So, How Do I Prepare for this Magical Place Called January?

Okay, let’s now get into it and get things done! Here are the things you should consider doing asap to be ready. (:

1. Prepare Campaigns: When the new year comes around, you need to be incredibly efficient and fast to take advantage of people’s new year’s resolutions. So, make sure that on your first day back at your job, you’ll be able to execute. You shouldn’t be doing any prep or strategic thinking (other than a quick reality check if your plan is still the best thing to do) in the first week of January. You should just be executing on it.
2. Prepare Messages: Have all messages to be sent out written. Nobody should be spending time writing messages while time is ticking.
3. Prepare Personas and Lead Lists: Have everybody in there you want to reach out to with a direct way to either send out the message with one or at least a few clicks. Don’t waste time on prospecting in the first week of January.
4. Allocate the Necessary Resources to Work on the Pipeline: As response rates are higher and you’re planning a high-intensity outreach, make sure you can follow up on it immediately. Allocate enough time and personnel to your pipeline.
5. Align Everybody on the Plan: Make sure you and your team are all in and exactly know what to do. This week might be stressful and the last thing you want to be dealing with is confusion.
6. Align Your Messaging with New Year’s Resolutions: Understand that people are in New Year’s resolution mindset. Cater to it. As a salesperson, you need to become an expert at aligning your companies messages with your leads’ needs. So, if people are thinking about change, greatness, growth, and all of these things use them in your messaging.
7. Include the New Vibe in Your Messaging: Make everything seem fresh while of course making sure that you bring across the track record your company has. New things for the new year are neat. Using your tools or services should feel like it’s a pathway into the future.
8. Consider Using (Innovative) Tech: Depending on your business model and your leads, you might be well advised to invest in some tech to make things more efficient or that help you to stand out. I put together my favorite sales tools for sales reps that help you with this here.
9. Consider Rebranding: Depending on your seniority this might be out of your control but if it isn’t then it’s very useful. “New Year New Me” is a common theme in January. An updated logo or sales messaging might do the trick and make you appear more exciting and will help you fir the context of the New Year’s vibe.
10. Explore New and/or Untraditional Markets: During the first week(s) of the new year, people are more willing to take risks and try new things. If you always wanted to test your products or services in a new market, people might be way more open to talk to you in January.
11. Get Things Done That Have Been Lying Around: First, use the time to get all the things done that need to get done but you just didn’t find the time to do. Did you promise something to your boss or mentor outside of your sales work? Did you want to get this new sales presentation done? Have you forgotten to catch up with the product team on the latest releases? Use the time for the things you never find time for and that really need to get done. This is important because these things need to get done and because it’ll free up your mind and reduce your stress levels starting into next year.
12. Focus Solely on Sales: During this time, don’t take on any additional responsibilities. Your mind needs to be set sharp on sales and sales only. Reaching out, responding quickly, and filling the pipeline should be your only priorities. If possible, I’d even advocate that you push off reporting.
13. Follow Up on Current Opportunities: Everything above about not annoying leads in December is also true for opportunities that you have already engaged with. However, the difference here is that it’s okay to communicate with them AS LONG AS you don’t put more work on their tables. Make sure to check in with them if they need anything from you. Schedule meetings to continue the conversation next month. Ask them for their preferences about how to continue in the process. Keep the messages short and don’t forget to wish them a “Merry Christmas” if they happen to celebrate it.
14. Invest in Your Network: Reach out directly or post some things on LinkedIn. Show people some appreciation and make sure to let people know that they are important to you. Especially with us sales professionals, people often think that we only reach out with an agenda. You’ll be surprised how much they’ll appreciate a short “Thank You” note that doesn’t ask for anything.
15. Take Some Time Off: And, honestly, if you can afford it, take some time off to get yourself ready for the new year. Don’t get me wrong. There’s a lot to do in December to be ready for January 2nd. But once everything is done, use the time of peace and quiet to recharge your batteries for next year. You’ll perform so much better.

So, I hope you’ll now have some fun testing your assumptions!

And, If You Want to Be Even More Efficient in Your January Outreach, Check Out Resonaid!

Resonaid is a tool that writes personalized messages for your sales outreach. It identifies unique and personal hooks that you can use to send out messages that are customized for every single lead. It literally takes all the work away from doing outreach. So, rather than spending 5 hours reaching out, it’ll only take you some 30 minutes.

Make sure to give it a try, if you haven’t already!

Access Resonaid via the Chrome Web Store.

Resonaid is a tool that helps sales professionals with writing personalized messages for their sales outreach.

We recently released the first version of our product as a Chrome extension in the Chrome Web Store.

As we just went live this summer, you can currently test Resonaid for free and get large discounts by being an early user.

About the Author.

Teddy Lange is a co-founder at Resonaid and is responsible for business development and customer experience. Before joining Resonaid, he’s been a Sales Rep and Junior Sales Manager, and co-founded various companies. He’s currently finishing his graduate degree in Public Policy with a focus on communication at Harvard University. Feel free to reach out to him at teddy@resonaid.co.