4 B2B Sales Strategies to Avoid the Holiday Slump

While retail businesses see booming sales during the holidays, B2B companies tend to suffer. No matter what season it is, we all want to increase our sales output; but with vacations, parties, and other end of the year distractions, it can be more difficult than ever to get a hold of your leads. If you want to ensure your fourth quarter sales don’t ruin your year, you’ll need to adjust your holiday sales strategy.

4 Effective Holiday B2B Sales Strategies

Strategy #1: Give Your Sales Team Incentives

One great way to get your team to increase their output is to create some holiday sales incentives. There are a few ways you can go about doing this:

Objective-Based Prizes: For this incentive, you can pick a sales number and have your team compete to see who reaches each level first. Based on what volume they reach, the first tier of prizes may be something small like a gift card or ticket to a show. You’ll then increase the incentive for each subsequent tier: tier two should be something more valuable like a travel voucher or dinner at a high-end restaurant, tier three should be a piece of tech like a laptop or phone, and so on for as many tiers as you feel comfortable funding.
Increased Commissions: Increasing the commission percentage during the holidays is a great way to spark your teams’ ambition. Everyone is looking for a way to make a bit of extra cash during the holidays to help fund presents and parties, and extra commission will push your sales reps to reach out and close more sales. You can also set a clear deadline on when these higher percentages end to match up with the end of the quarter; that way, your reps will put in more effort knowing these bonuses are only available for a limited time.
Paid Time-Off: Offering up a few days of paid time off may seem costly, but this incentive can be a great investment. Time off is a huge motivator, and by giving the first sales representative to reach the objective this coveted prize, you’ll create an air of friendly competition. Make sure to also reward team members who get close to your sales objective as well; any boost in productivity should be rewarded, even if they don’t quite reach their goal.

Strategy #2: Set Attainable Goals

If you implement an incentives program but notice that your teams aren’t hitting your objective numbers, it may be time to reassess your goals. There will be a downturn in B2B sales during the holidays; some level of slump is unavoidable. Your goal is to try to make this a slight dip instead of a huge valley, and if you shoot too high with your sales objectives, you’re going to be disappointed.

It’s better to set a reasonable goal and then exceed it. Underpromise, overdeliver is a time-honored strategy in business. This works whether you are a supervisor trying to impress the higher-ups, or the CEO trying to motivate your employees. For a supervisor, you want ranking officers to see that you are capable of establishing a realistic objective and then meeting it. For a CEO, you don’t want to demoralize your employees by setting them up for failure.

Strategy #3: Find Ways to Save Time

With the hectic energy of the holiday season filling up everyones to-do lists, it’s understandable to feel the time crunch when it comes to work. Your teams are feeling this stress as well, but there are ways to help them save time and increase their sales numbers. One good way to do this is with better tools: this can be automation programs, B2B SaaS sales tools, and other helpful additions that can cut back on repetitive actions. Some examples of these include:

Sales Dialers: A sales dialer is a type of software that optimizes the cold calling process. By compiling your leads and dialing them automatically once the previous call has ended, your reps can save time and focus their complete energy on active conversations.
Voicemail Drop: Call-time shouldn’t be wasted just because a customer doesn’t pick up, and voicemail drop software can help clinch a potential sale. By allowing you to record your perfect sales message ahead of time, voicemail drop allows you to place that sales script flawlessly into a customer’s inbox. The best part is, your rep can move on to the next call while the voicemail is still recording! This shaves time off each call they make, saving you countless labor hours each quarter.
Local Presence Dialing: One of the biggest hurdles to cold calling is getting customers to reliably pick up the phone. With spam filters and the general distrust the public has of phone calls, even a legitimate business will have difficulty reaching their leads. With local presence dialing, your sales reps can gain the authority they need to reach potential consumers. Local presence allows your phones to use local, trusted area codes, dramatically boosting answer rates, active calls, and overall sales.

Strategy #4: Boost Your Marketing Budget

This strategy takes a bit of forethought, but you can also allocate a larger portion of your marketing budget towards the latter part of the year to combat a Q4 sales slump. More marketing can mean an increase in PPC ads, content, social media marketing, or any other channel you think will positively benefit your company. Increasing your marketing is especially helpful if you have special promotions or sales events during the holidays.

If you don’t already have holiday promotions, consider instituting some; a free trial of your service or discounted subscription can help bring on valuable new customers. People can’t resist a good deal, and with your increased marketing, you’re more likely to establish valuable brand activations. You may also want to adjust how to reach out to customers, with alternative tactics like SMS messaging offering more effective engagement. Constructing an SMS sales funnel can be a simple way to connect with consumers during the distractions of the holiday season and increase close rates during an otherwise lower volume quarter.

With the Right Tools, You Can Keep Your Sales Numbers High

By adjusting your strategy and equipping your team with the right tools, you can avoid that dreaded drop in sales numbers around the holidays. All-in-one sales platforms like Kixie can give your team a full suite of programs that can increase your connection rates, boost sales volume, and grow your overall customer base. These programs include:

To help you reach those leads during this difficult season, Kixie is offering a one-week trial of their service absolutely free; you don’t even need to enter a credit card. Don’t risk losing out on potential sales during this crucial time; start your free trial today!