Are Clients Less Responsive Lately?

By Amy Bingham

Sales reps can get discouraged when they don’t feel successful.

It’s true that vacations, distractions with kids at home, and just a “lazy days of summer” mentality tends to make this season a more challenging time to reach clients.

That means more sales activity is needed during the summer, but unfortunately some reps allow their disillusionment to slow their activity.

Staffing leaders can counteract the summer doldrums by helping their reps understand the opportunity these slower months present to increase contacts, create value for their clients, and accelerate results.

How to motivate your reps during the summer?

Remind them vacations can mean new connections.

Suggest your reps pay close attention to those “out of office” notifications that typically list who to contact in the hiring manager’s absence. The covering individual just might become a new client.

Let your reps know their prospects could be in great spirits right now.

For starters, studies show the brain produces higher levels of the mood-lifting chemical serotonin on sunny days than on dark ones.

The pace of work in their own industry may be slower as well, so they might be more open to a conversation if they see the value in it.

One way to create value is for your reps to encourage prospects and clients to meet now, while it’s slower, to put together a contract staffing plan for the remainder of the year so they’re prepared to meet their own customer demand as the economy continues its recovery.

Amp up the fun in your sales contests.

Fun lifts spirits. Think short-term – contests of the day or of the week create more immediate rewards.

Get creative by letting winners pick their own prizes from grab bag with of options like leaving early on a Friday, a gift card of their choosing, tickets to a virtual conference, a spa treatment, a tank of gas, etc.

Finally, remember to model what you want to see.

If you maintain a high level of energy and excitement about the sales process through the summer, so will your reps.

That energy and passion will be reflected in their prospecting efforts – and they’ll be more likely to get hiring managers to respond.

Amy Bingham || Founder of Bingham Consulting

binghamcp.com