{"id":12030,"date":"2019-12-04T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-04T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandler.dsstaging2.com\/case-study\/whose-year-should-you-close-strong\/"},"modified":"2022-10-24T23:00:03","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T23:00:03","slug":"whose-year-should-you-close-strong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandler.com\/blog\/whose-year-should-you-close-strong\/","title":{"rendered":"In Selling, Whose Year Should You Close Strong?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s that time of year. The holidays loom, there is a chill\nin the air, and countless articles appear providing guidance to sales\nrepresentatives about how to close the year strong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The five, ten or twenty best strategies are outlined in\nchecklists to insure end-of-year success. \u201cContact every client\u201d is an action\noften recommended, as is \u201cRevisit prospects who have chosen another vendor.\u201d Other\npopular suggestions include \u201cAsk for referrals.\u201d Certainly, there\u2019s value in these\noft-circulated ideas. But think for a moment of your clients and former clients.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notice that they are the targets of these and so many other seemingly\nmagical revenue-producing actions. How do you think they feel about the spike\nin communication they receive from their vendors at this time of year? Do they feel\nspecial? Are they grateful to be contacted by multiple sales reps eager to\n\u201cclose the year strong\u201d \u2013 all requesting the same things? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You already know the answer. Clients are smart\nbusinesspeople who, by the way, are hugely busy at year-end and don\u2019t\nappreciate self-serving intrusions on their time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps you\u2019re thinking: \u201cSelf-serving? Isn\u2019t that a bit\nharsh?\u201d No. Not when the sales reps\u2019 primary objective is to close the year\nstrong. Whose year? Their<\/em> year! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the most important thing to understand when it comes\nto serving clients, and especially when it comes to serving major accounts, is\nthat it\u2019s not about us<\/em>. Savvy clients can spot sales reps who don\u2019t\nunderstand this simple concept a mile away. They\u2019re the ones making those\nself-serving calls at this time of year in an attempts to close their <\/em>year\nstrong, with zero concern for what is going on in the client\u2019s world. Not only\nare these salespeople easily spotted, they\u2019re also remembered for a very long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question is, how can you close the year strong in a way\nthat respects your clients\u2019 interests? One great answer is to start by focusing\nin on three strategies that benefit both you and your accounts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Know the Calendars. <\/strong>Close\nto 70% of US companies follow calendar budgets, which means a full 30% don\u2019t. In\nthe public sector, the US Federal Government tracks October to September; Canada\u2019s\ngovernment schedule runs April through March. Japanese and Australian firms\noften follow very different formats; many universities align to academic\ncalendars. To add to the complexity, many companies utilizing calendar budgets align\nto government schedules for engagements with their public sector clients. Here\u2019s\nthe point: Before you start suggesting \u201cend of the year\u201d reviews or discount\nprograms, be sure that it\u2019s truly the end of the client\u2019s year. And if the\nclosing of a client\u2019s funding year is indeed approaching, bear in mind that it\u2019s\nalso very close to the start of the new funding year. In such situations, knowing\nyour client\u2019s ordering patterns, pains and overall needs is critical. Significant\nmutual benefit can result from proactively suggesting products or services be\npurchased with unallocated funds before year-end in those situations where a \u201cuse\nit or lose it\u201d system may apply. Some organizations will even accept and pay\n\u201cpre-bills\u201d in the current year for deliveries in the new year to avoid losing\nfunds. By the same token, if the waning year\u2019s funds are depleted but client needs\nremain, you may want to suggest ordering and delivery in the current year with\npayment due in the new year. Knowing your client and what\u2019s required in his or\nher unique world earns you the right to have truly meaningful (as opposed to\none-size-fits-all) year-end conversations.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n