Sales Driven Marketing Hub

One of my mentors used to say, “You can have a bad day, but don’t ever have two in a row. You might have a bad week but don’t repeat it the next week. If you have a bad month always bounce back the following month. Through it all, there is one thing you must always do. Make sure you always hit your goals for the quarter.”

Most people find themselves scrambling at the end of each quarter to achieve quota. I have a sales strategy for exceeding quarterly goals. Perfect it, and you’ll beat your goals quarter after quarter, year after year! 

If you were to review your last year in sales and broke things down by quarter, did most of your sales come at the beginning or at the end of the quarter? Let me guess…the majority of your sales came at the quarter's end.

Most people try to spread their sales out evenly from one month to the next. They are cautious about having too big a performance in a single month and fear they’ll end up empty handed in the months to come.

It’s a trap! You need to do the exact opposite. The key strategy is to front load your quarter and pack every buyer possible into the first month of each quarter.

Here are four reasons why.

1. You'll Be Immune To The Pushers

People buy on their schedule, not yours. There will always be buyers who push their original purchase/start/implementation date. You’re in big trouble if you have a new client coming on board at the end of the quarter, something unexpected happens, and the deal pushes back 30 days. On the other hand, if you have them originally scheduled for the beginning of the quarter, you have another 60 to 90 days of wiggle room!

2. You'll Work Better When You're Ahead

Some people will tell you they work well under pressure. That may be true in the short term, but it isn’t a good long term strategy. Most people work better when they're ahead. They perform best when they are winning, and when there is less pressure. It's one of the secrets to consistent top performance.

3. You'll Build Consistency

How many times do you hear managers talk about building consistent performance? Take into account the first two reasons listed above. Front loading your quarter makes it easier to build consistency. This sales strategy allows you to work ahead and allows for things to play out naturally, rather than forcing it, running out of time, and scrambling to close deals late in the game.

4. Sooner Is Better Than Later

This mostly applies to sales that generate recurring monthly revenue. Let’s say your clients pay $1,000 per month for your service. Imagine you are adding 15 new clients this quarter. Instead of having five the first month, five the second, and five the third, (we’ll say everything works out perfectly for this example) you try to get all of them started in month one. Packing them in early brings $10,000 more in the first month and $5,000 more in the second month. At quarter end, you’ve gained $15,000 more for the same clients by generating the revenue sooner rather than later!

Now, some people will read this and say, “I can’t predict when my prospects will start.” You are exactly right, and that’s the point! Your sales strategy must be to get everyone who is able to start now, at the beginning of the quarter, to start now. The other buyers will naturally fall into place.

Master this strategy and you’ll consistently beat your quarterly goals!