The end of the year is a particularly challenging time for salespeople. Not only are you rushing to close deals before year end, but you’re also dealing with the busy holiday season. Prospects go on vacation, you go on vacation, etc. You could be nearing the close of a deal only for the prospect to go completely dark.
Although it’s too late for year-end deals, it’s not too late to re-engage those prospects. In fact, it’s time to hyper-focus on them.
Why Now? The Competition
The rush to close deals by the end of Q4 doesn’t typically transfer over to Q1 for many companies. There is often a lull at the beginning of the year, when everyone is trying to recharge after checking out for vacations.
And that’s the move they won’t see coming. Get ahead of your competitors by starting the new year just as strong as you finished the previous.
Re-engaging prospects at the start of Q1 offers the opportunity to experiment with new selling techniques that are destined to yield results. While your competitors stay asleep at the wheel, you’ll be finalizing contracts.
So what do those techniques look like? Let’s dive in.
Identify Prospect Priorities for the Year
Ask your prospects what their plans and goals are for 2023. Have they changed at all from the last time you spoke? What about their stretch goals?
In doing so, you’ll demonstrate your intentions to help them find a solution that works for their specific organization. If they are planning on participating in trade shows, work your cadences around these events to give them space when needed.
This technique has a hidden bonus in being able to use their plans to your advantage. Are they going to a trade show near you? Make a plan to meet up to talk in person about your solution, their goals, and how the two can work together.
Additionally, if they happen to be attending an event outside of their usual area, contact them about how your solution can help them in these situations as well as throughout their continued growth.
Try Connecting through Different Channels
Are your emails and phone calls being left unanswered after the holiday season? Maybe it’s time to try something new.
Using other channels such as LinkedIn is a good way to get a prospect’s attention. Email inboxes and voicemails stay full, leaving your outreach lost in the shuffle. Social media inboxes are a whole different animal.
Receiving a message on social sites brings an extra layer of excitement to the prospect, often more so than an email or a voicemail. In fact, reps that use this technique are 80% more likely to reach their quota.
It should be noted, however, that this technique should be used with caution to prevent the prospect from feeling harrassed. There’s a delicate balance to achieve with social outreach, but the potential benefits are worth the experiment.
Send a “Just Because” Email
After you have built a rapport with your prospect, you might attempt a more unique approach with your outreach efforts.
Dust off your active listening skills to remember their interests and things outside of work that have been discussed or noticed throughout your professional courting. Get their attention by talking to them about those interests — restaurants, hobbies, the latest show they’re binging, etc.
This technique can act as a well-needed break from the grind of catching up on everything after the holidays. Building relationships with your prospects will also position you as a trusted advisor and friend, making them feel like they are replying to a real person instead of a generic pitch.
Personalize your Approach
Dig deep. What will provide value to your prospect? Personalization is the running theme when it comes to re-engaging prospects. In fact, it’s vital.
According to research gathered by Forbes, personalization is a powerful tool to predict consumer behavior, establish trust, and seal the deals. Customers crave and respond to a personalized experience, plain and simple.
Of course, this will require a deeper understanding of your prospect and their unique needs. This knowledge can be acquired through reviewing press releases, public filings, social media accounts, etc.
Try sending them a blog post or a piece of collateral related to what they’ve been posting about on LinkedIn. This will let them know that they are important to you, and that you understand what’s important to them.
Make it a Contest with LevelEleven
We get it. We’re all exhausted after the holidays. Getting back into the swing of things takes some time, but there are tools to make it easier to get your groove back.
How can you be motivated to actually re-engage with your prospects? Consider implementing a sales contest using a gamification solution like LevelEleven.
When it comes to turning these prospect outreach techniques into an engaging contest, you’ll want to be sure to include the right activities. You can award points for completed tasks like live connections, LinkedIn connections, etc. With gamification, the post-holiday lull can be a thing of the past.
Ready to re-engage?
