Using Data-Driven Insight to Avoid Summertime Sales Slumps

Sometimes, you may start to wonder how businesses stay afloat in the summer. You keep calling, and everyone seems to be on vacation. And then you wonder how you’ll make your quota if you can’t get in touch with an actual human being. You may feel like taking PTO and heading to the pool. But don’t despair. If you change your strategy when warm weather and sunny skies prevail, you can still get a lot accomplished.

Prospect as a team sport

If the pipeline has come to a grinding halt because all the key decision-makers are in Aruba and other beautiful places, everyone on your team should be prospecting. If you’ve forgotten how to do this – or never have – shadow your sales development representative (SDR), figure it out and get to work. Sale reps should not think of summer as the season of unattainable goals, but an opportunity to set themselves up for future success by helping with prospecting. If you’re a sales team manager, be lenient about quotas or reduce them for sales reps who are working to get new leads into the pipeline.

Research, research, research

You could probably learn a little bit more about your clients, but maybe you haven’t had time to do any research. Summer’s a great time to catch up on what your clients are doing – read their company blog, see what they’re posting on LinkedIn and read their recent news releases. You may learn something that will help you be better at your job. LinkedIn is also a good place to read about prospects. Are they sharing content that explains their pain points? Are they connected to one of your current clients? Educate yourself before you reach out to new opportunities.

Try to upsell current clients

If you're having trouble closing deals in the summer with new prospects, try closing some deals with old ones. Your current clients are the biggest sources on your recurring revenue, so tap into that pool and reach out. Even if they're going on vacation or out of the office, they're already familiar with your product or service offering and you'll have a better chance of closing.

Review your reporting and adjust accordingly

If your team is having a hard time meeting quotas during the summer, then you should be reviewing reporting as a team to identify and find opportunities. Your sales organization is only as good as its weakest link, so collectively discussing these problems will prove more effective. Make sure your entire team has access to these analytics so they can glean insight from past performance. No matter the season, having the analytics you need to make data-driven decisions is key. Sales force automation is a tool that will help sales teams stay successful year-round, providing each individual with performance reporting, optimized cadences and a detailed view of the sales organization. Our Math of Sales™ solution provides you with real-time analytics on what’s working and what’s not. With Salesvue, you’ll know your company’s sales cycle like the back of your hands: who, what, when, how, and how many of your team’s sales activities are driving revenue, and which aren’t. What’s more, Salesvue shows you the dollar value of every sales action in real time — no need for running manual reports. Find out more about how you can keep that sales funnel full year-round by reading our white paper, “Understanding Your SDR Needs: Identifying Your Input and Output Ratio", by filling out the form below: