business strategies

3 Simple Solutions to Avoid the Summer Sales Slump

Not every industry slumps in the summer, but some do. Mine is one. According to what “everyone” says, July and December are historically slump months for my industry. People aren’t holding a lot of conferences. Everyone is on vacation. No one is particularly focused on their business.

I don’t buy it. I’ve never bought it, and I don’t ever plan to buy it! As a result, I historically have really solid months in July and December.

Let’s start out this week’s blog post with a good old solid dose of reality. Most often our sales slump when we lose our focus as the business owner. So if you want to have a rocking summer sales report to celebrate over when the kids go back to school, here are some simple tips to help you keep numbers high.

1. Position for relevancy. This is important all year long, but critical when people suddenly find your product less relevant during the summer. From about Mid-April until September we hear people say, “I would love to coach with you, but we just have so much going on right now. I think I need to wait until the kids go back to school next year.” The way that I build relevancy with this is honesty. Unless you truly have a seasonal business, you can’t build a 6 figure income by working only when it is convenient. So every spring I’ll do some type of how to summer proof your business campaign. It might be a blog post, a radio show, a Straight Talk for Small Biz, or a special webinar. But you’ll see me do it every year! How can you make your service of product seem more relevant during the summer?

2. Plan ahead! The worst summers are the ones where you had every intention of working, but didn’t have it all planned out and then the summer just got away from you. Let’s not have that! I already have my speaking gigs booked for the summer. My marketing is scheduled out. Everyone knows their assignments. When you go into the summer that way, it all turns out fine. When you go into the month thinking, “I’ve got to get some sales going this month.” Good luck, it will probably be pretty rocky.

3. Find ways to sell to more people at once. That one sounds like, “Well Duh Amy!” But honestly, I have adjusted my sales plan this summer to focus more on selling to groups rather than individuals. It allows me to maximize my time and close more deals even though we have vacations and camps planned.

Your business this summer is critical! Don’t let it slump. I am 100% serious when I tell you that I can predict the long-term success of an entrepreneur based on how they work during the busy seasons in their lives. You simply cannot build a wildly successful company while working only when it is convenient. Your business, and your sales require consistency. Get your plan in place and I can’t wait to hear about you rocking out your summer sales. For more details visit here: http://amywalkerconsulting.com/