Act now! Q1 is ending.

By Mark LaRosa on March 10th, 2009

I shouldn’t be writing, and you shouldn’t be reading, this post.

Why?  Its the end of the quarter, and if you are in sales, and if you are awake, you should be working on how to use the end of the quarter to get as many deals closed as possible.

This week is a key week to call all of your stalled deals and wake them up with an offer.  This is the time to grab your April and May deals, and see about moving them into Q1.  This is the week to make sure the deals that you are counting on for Q1 – actually happen.

Remember your “If I… will you”,  and call each and every deal that needs movement and use the end of Q1 as an excuse to reach out to them.  Not to pester them, but to reach out to each and every deal in your pipeline no matter how far out and touch them.

Some resistance from salespeople I have managed on this:

• “But my customer told me not to call them until June.”  It doesn’t matter.  Call them now, and say, “I know you said don’t call until June, but I just talked to my VP of Sales and he said that if you can close before the end of the month, I can offer you x.  I thought the offer made a lot of sense and thought I’d reach out just in case.”  Your prospect, if nothing else, should appreciate that you thought of them.  Make sure your offer is genuine and that you actually have something of value – otherwise you are killing the deal.

• “I left them a voicemail last week and they haven’t called back.”  Again, it doesn’t matter.  Call them again and explain the offer.  Leave another message and tell them you will send them an email as well.  (Or vice versa – send an email and then call and tell them you are following up on your email.  Say, “I’m sorry if I’m being a pest, but I wanted to make sure you got the chance to hear about this offer that I’m being allowed to make if you sign before the end of the month.”

• “I’ve already made them a sweetheart deal, and I don’t have anything new to offer”.  Well, I certainly hope that you have already put an expiration on a sweetheart deal, and if you haven’t, then it is time to reach out and make sure that they know the deal expires at midnight on 3/31.

• “I’m afraid I will come off pushy”  This is exactly the point.  I always advocate win-win sales, and therefore, if you are caling just to hound them on where the deal is, then you WILL come off pushy.  You should be calling with a genuine offer and with a genuine desire to get them as a customer at the best deal that you can offer.  This is about applying a pressure point of the end of the quarter to potentially force a decision faster than they wanted to – and giving them an incentive for doing so.

Any other objections you can think of?

OK – stop reading and go sell.  There are only a few weeks left of the quarter.