Silly, Outdated, and Dangerous Sales Legends

    

A new month is upon us in just two days. I love new months. A new month means new opportunities.

I'm doubly excited for a new month to start, because each month has been better than the last. The popularity of the Never Cold Call Again sales philosophy continues to grow through word-of-mouth and that's the best kind of advertising any company can get.

But I digress. Let me tell you the story I'm writing to you about today:

Lots of salespeople make stupid assumptions about when and why people will buy - or won't buy. I'm guilty of this myself, and getting over this stupidity is a big reason why NeverColdCall.com's growth has been especially spectacular in the past two years, despite the sluggish economy.

Here's why: Early on, sales volume would plummet each year immediately following Thanksgiving here in the US, and wouldn't bounce back to normal levels until mid-January.

Assuming that this was just the way it was, I backed off on my marketing and was far less aggresssive for that time period between Thanksgiving and mid-January. I wasn't sending out my daily email Sales Tips like this one, and just accepted the fact that business was supposed to be slow that time of year; after all, everyone is too busy shopping for Christmas and Hanukkah and preparing for holiday celebrations, aren't they?

Then finally, one day I said screw it. I'm going to continue marketing hard all through the holiday season, and what will be will be.

To my surprise - and delight - the last few Decembers have turned into routine sales months, with numbers matching our monthly averages. In fact, during the last two Decembers, the only slow day we had was Christmas Day itself!

And this last January set a record for our largest month ever. After years of my stupid assumption that people didn't want to spend money yet due to holiday shopping maxing out their credit cards.

And with July right around the corner, salespeople will use Independence Day as an excuse to not go out and make sales in the coming week.

Are YOU Making These Stupid Assumptions?

My old sales manager John, the one I mention all the time - the only smart one I ever had - used to get really annoyed that most of us would slack off during the holidays and get distracted ourselves by holiday shopping and preparation.

But it wasn't really any distraction that caused the problem. The problem is that we ASSUMED people wouldn't be in a buying mode, because THEY were all busy with the holidays themselves.

Oh how wrong I was. In fact, the truth is that in B2B sales, companies are trying to spend their budgets before year-end, and get last minute tax deductions on the books.

And even in the B2C world, the same thing goes on. Particularly in industries like real estate and financial services, where people are trying to get their tax advantages in before the December 31st deadline. Or medicine, where people have procedures done at the end of the year because they've fulfilled the deductible, and the work will be free.

So if YOU have been making these kinds of assumptions, STOP IT! Sure, the holidays are six months behind us - for now - but there are all kinds of myths that permeate the sales world: "Prospects are out golfing on Fridays." "They're too busy on Monday to follow up with them." And on and on it goes.

In fact, I'm sure plenty of salespeople are whining right now that it's hard to reach prospects because it's corporate tax season. Whatever. Shut up, stop making excuses, and get to work.

Remember, CONSISTENCY is key! Top sales pros make the same huge numbers month after month, because they are consistent with their sales activities and they don't change them because of silly assumptions about holidays, or Fridays or Mondays, or anything else.

So stop making those assumptions yourself, and watch your sales numbers SOAR!

If you're not up to speed on modern, Information Age lead-generation methods, learn how you can stop cold calling forever and become a sales rock star by downloading a 37-page PDF preview of the Never Cold Call Again System here.

New York Times best-selling author Frank Rumbauskas helps companies make billions by improving sales processes and marketing strategy. He has won numerous accolades, such as Readers Choice for Business Book of the Year from 800-CEO-READ, and has been named one of Fast Company’s 30 Most Influential People. If you're in sales and want to stop cold calling forever, download a free 37-page PDF preview of his Never Cold Call Again lead-generation system at NeverColdCall.com