I just listened to Mungo Jerry's "In The Summertime," and it made me smile, tap my feet, rock my head, especially with the banjo player huffing and puffing into the jug. Love it!
...then BOOM! The song is over and I remembered all the times I heard inside sales reps complain that "It's summer, nobody's working."
Folks, that's one of the biggest myths in lead gen. In fact, it's so twisted that some hidden benefits of summer are shrowded. Let's take a look.
Yes, most people take vacation time in the summer. I do to. That said, how many vacations can one take? They can't be gone all summer. In fact, some very important things happen because of vacations:
- Desk time - Most people planning vacations plan some time in the office (ie: not travelling) prior to and immediately after so that they can get their ducks in a row and return hitting the ground running. That is more time for them to be at their desks picking up calls, or paying attention to an email inbox that is organized. Take advantage of it.
- Responders - "I'll be out of the office until Monday, July 21. In an emergency you can call my cell ###-###-####, otherwise, you can contact June, my assistant at ###-###-####, or John, my senior team member at john@emailme.com". Nuggets: The prospect's cell number, the assistant's name and number, and his trusted underling's email address. Use them.
- Scheduling - It can get dicy trying to pick a date, sure, but use it as an opportunity to book a meeting in close -- to set some urgency.
- Lighten the mood - It's always a challenge to find the common thread in a call to make the prospect feel comfortable listening to the business end of a conversation, what better common thread than "Oh, vacation, I just got back from the Cape, what are you planning?". People buy from people.
- Attitudes - Let's face it, we're all a bit happier. Happier = Approachable.
"We love everybody, but we do as we please
When the weather's fine
We go fishing or go swimming in the sea
We're always happy"
Enjoy the video, and take Mungo Jerry's tip to heart: "Go out and see what you can find"!