'Tis the Season for Family, Friends, & Follow Up - 10 Timely Tips

This is the time to gather sales, prepare for the New Year and make memorable time for family and friends. Now through February requires the strongest effort and the most multi-faceted approach to growing your business, especially in direct sales and home-based businesses. Many businesses conduct between 25-40% (Source: NRF) of their annual sales during these holiday months. December in particular requires additional energy and planning to not only surge your sales but also to truly enjoy the special time of year yourself.

Whether those around you are gathering heaps of gifts, or preparing seasonal feasts, or traveling to savor time with a loved-one, we can ease some of the holiday pressures by remembering to focus on some simple yet solid solutions.

Firstly, this season is a race to win sales. While this may be your greatest effort, we cannot forget that as quickly do the holidays arrive, no sooner do they end. This is why it is imperative to formulate a reasonable plan to launch you and your business into the New Year. This is a lesson I learned the hard way during my first years in my direct sales, home-based business, and my sales suffered consequently. This strategy has a long record of success now. My commitment to implement an action plan to bridge the pre and post holiday season produced decades of reliable sales thereafter!

The secret to starting a prosperous new year is to add one more ritual to your holiday tradition; one day devoted to Unforgettable Follow Up™. During this day, it is essential to reach out to former customers and Hosts, and take the time to thank them personally for their business. Scheduling a single day of focused phone calls work wonders.

When you schedule a focused follow up day, you are building a bridge plan to the New Year. As you realize the magnitude of this ritual, you may want to keep mindful of the following:

Placing calls too close to the actual holiday may not bear fruit, as you are likely to find everyone too busy. Making phone calls right after the holiday may lead to that slow transition period we know as 'break mode' and willingness to converse may be lower than normal. This is why the best time for an Unforgettable Follow Up™ is early to mid December. You will find a dual purpose with this approach. First, to show appreciation for your former customers and second, to inform them about upcoming events, sales, or recruiting promotions that will help launch your New Year.

You will find the season much more enjoyable with pre-planned financial opportunities in line for the start of the New Year. And hard work leading into the holiday season makes the time off feel genuinely earned.

Every December, I set aside time to call my best customers, Hosts and prospects to personally thank them for their business or relationship. It is always during these calls that I would discover opportunities to either repeat successful business engagements, book parties or gather referrals for future ones. On this day, I also realize that many of the calls were efforts I 'should have' made during the busy fall. In this business, the 'should haves' can quickly accumulate. Stop 'should (have) - ing' all over yourself and organize your follow up day now!

Here are 10 timely sales tips:

1. Set one day aside in December to focus on your follow up.

2. Organize your contact list prior to the date.

3. Outline your call back strategy.

4. Place your leads into a system where you can regularly locate your potentials.

5. Plan your day; cook in advance so that you can devote your time to massive action.

6. Arrange for support so that you are free to focus. (Child care, administrative, tools, resources, etc)

7. Decide whom you will call.

8. Prepare your speaking points.

9. Define your goals for the day.

10.Complete your Follow Up Day & celebrate your accomplishment with some family and friends.

Additionally you can also express your appreciation to your customers, Hosts and Team by remembering that outreach comes in many forms! Have fun; get creative... hold a holiday open house, host an appreciation luncheon, or gather kids around to help craft homemade holiday cards. Preparation for the New Year plus perseverance put forth by making appreciation calls/gestures will help you prosper!

Ted Kennedy Jr. shared a story that his dad told him which sums up these priorities. Ted Kennedy Sr. taught him what it takes to win a boating race. Ted Kennedy Senior's response to his son, who wondered why their boat stays out so much longer than other boats to prepare for the race, is insightful. 1"Teddy, he said, "Well, you see, most of the other sailors we race against are smarter and more talented than we are. But the reason why we are going to win is that we are going to work harder than them. We will be better prepared. And he just wasn't talking about boating. My father admired perseverance. My father believed that to do a job effectively required a tremendous amount of time and effort."

Set up your Unforgettable Follow Up™ Day. Start a tradition of scheduling extra time, effort and perseverance in December to win those sales for both now and January. With planning and priorities in place, you can fulfill the seasonal demands, and prosper. Make time for Family, Friends and Follow up!

1Chicago: From freelance to full-time | Philly | 10/13/2009, (Accessed November 8, 2009).

Barb Girson Original Work

©2009 All Rights Reserved.

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About The Author
Barb Girson, International Direct Selling Industry Expert, Trainer & Coach, helps companies, teams & entrepreneurs gain confidence, get into action, & most importantly... grow sales by sharing her "Strategies That Stick™".

Barb is a highly interactive, creative speaker and author offering customized, professional skill development programs for workshops, meetings and teleconference training programs. Visit www.MySalesTactics.com to join her mailing list & get invited to her next FREE teleclass.

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