When is a Year Only 6 Months Long? When You Sell Employee Benefits

As hard is it is to believe, we’re already a month into the new year. With the craziness of fourth quarter and all of the holiday activity, you’ve probably barely caught your breath. Not to be the bearer of bad news, but you’ve already lost more of 2020 than the calendar shows.

Let’s start by looking at your pipeline. What does it look like today? If you’re like way too many sales people, given the craziness and activity mentioned above, it’s probably pretty close to empty.

If you were to put a prospect into your pipeline today, it would probably take a couple of months to close.

So, with January almost over and considering the length of your sales cycle, you are effectively a quarter into the new year. And, just guessing that the fourth quarter of this year will be just as crazy as the last couple of ones you just survived, your 2020 “sales year” is now only about six months long.

I wouldn’t say it's time to panic, but I am suggesting it's time to approach your pipeline and sales activity with a sense of urgency. There is no longer a margin of error when it comes to your sales focus.

Do you have the necessary focus? That depends on how you’re spending your time.

Do you stay out of service activities or any other activity that doesn’t lead to a new sale?
Do you have a clear picture of your ideal client?
Are you blocking out time every day for prospecting?
Are you maintaining a full pipeline of prospects that are systematically moving towards closing?
Do you know the prospects’ businesses, how they make money, and how you can help them make more?
Are you committed to never losing because the competition out-prepared you?
Do you work every day to be smarter and more informed than you were yesterday?
Are you using the strength of your entire team and not trying to play the role of Lone Ranger?
Do you have a sales process that keeps you in control of the sales conversation?

If you couldn’t answer “Yes” to every question, you need to find more focus. If you’re not sure how to develop the focus in a particular area, send us an email describing your challenge. We have ideas and resources to help with each and are more than happy to share.