Start Strong to Finish Strong

We are deep into the 2023 holiday season, so I hope this message finds you joyful and in the mood to celebrate. Here at Treeline, we’re happily enjoying December and expertly helping our executive search clients meet their hiring needs.

As the selling year abruptly draws to a close, I’m sure, just like every other thriving sales professional, you are working hard to book as much business as possible. The message I have for you today can help you maximize your results.

You will probably agree that the average year’s last quarter is always the most distracting. It can feel like everything is happening:

• Schools are back in session.
• The seasonal change alters the tempo of life.
• Well, most of us have seasonal changes where we live, anyway.
• The holiday season makes its diverse demands on your schedule.
• And you may have personal distractions of an unexpected nature, too.

Still, to sell like the rockstar you know you are, you have to stay on top of it all. That’s the only way to properly ride this year into the next.

How Can You Focus on Ending the Year Strong?

We are happy to share insights from Treeline’s uniquely successful path as one of the nation’s top sales staffing agencies in the United States.

Crucially, we plan and forecast for the future. We are all wired differently, but those two traits have been essential to our success in business.

For many of us, it’s gratifying to knock out a task and cross it off a list. We know being goal-oriented is not how everyone operates, but if you are looking to make an impact on your remaining year and the start of 2024, we recommend goal-setting.

Here are several tips that draw on our unique expertise.

1. Be Realistic

Your market might feature short-cycle sales or long-cycle sales, or you might be the executive in charge of recruiting, hiring and employee retention for your company’s sales positions. In each of those cases, you need to be thoroughly familiar with your current pipeline.

Now, your first response to reading that just now may have been, “I’m good. I have a pipeline. I’m all set.”

You’re right. The fact that you have a pipeline of sales opportunities is good, but simply having it isn’t enough. You need to be deeply involved with your pipeline. That’s the only way to truly know what’s currently happening and what will likely happen in the next quarter.

Be curious. Ask questions about your pipeline:

• Where do your prospects and accounts currently stand?
• What potential business is actually bankable?
• Which deals can be booked before the ball drops at Midnight?
• Which one of my clients will be on vacation in the coming weeks?
• Who is likely to buy in the first few weeks of 2024?

Dig into all of your available info, and try hard to paint a highly accurate picture of the real-deal potential sales in your pipeline. Think of these as the ones that almost can’t miss the mark.

This is the list you’ll use to maximize the rest of this year and launch 2024 like a rocket, so be honest as you evaluate each opportunity. Don’t kid yourself. Be realistic.

Hoping that a contact who never should have been in your pipeline in the first place will lead somewhere productive is a waste of your precious time. Focus on realistic opportunities.

Right now, you want to find the prospects and existing clients in your sales pipeline who have current needs. That comes with asking the right questions.

Staying realistic will help you keep your mind clear, which will help you stay focused. In sales, when we stay focused, we make money.

2. Recalibrate

By recalibrating, you may pick up surprise revenue. That’s the right kind of surprise! It’s time to ask more questions:

• Among your existing accounts, who needs to be contacted immediately?
• Which accounts are missing worthwhile products or services that your outfit can deliver?
• Which existing accounts have you left on Autopilot that might actually bring you more revenue if you showed them a little TLC?

As you recalibrate, think of it as taking inventory. Create a list. Reach out to each account on that list to schedule a meeting to uncover new needs and wants. Don’t skip any client on the list. You will find new revenue from old clients in the coming weeks. Those pleasant surprises will make you smile.

3. Figure Out Who Has Been Neglected

We all have our favorite prospects and clients, which means we also have accounts we sometimes overlook. You need to ask, “Who has been neglected lately?”

Now, since we’re in sales, the answer may be that we’re the ones leaving messages and sending emails and not hearing back from the contacts at the other end. Of course, since we are sales pros, we know we can’t take those nonresponses personally.

To end the year with a bang and start 2024 with a thrill, savvy sales reps will take these steps:

• Look at a contact record’s last activity or outreach.
• Discover realistic prospects who might have fallen through the cracks.
• Create a list of these prospects.
• Contact each prospect to schedule meetings.
• Be honest with yourself and your pipeline.

Touching base with these contacts is a reliable component of starting and finishing strong. You may discover more surprise revenue here.

4. Look Back at Your Year

By reflecting on this year, you can plan for a potentially record-smashing 2024. As we reflect, we want to ask questions like these:

• How did you excel during this past year?
• Which methodologies worked?
• What didn’t work?
• What mistakes did you make?
• What can you learn from your mistakes?

As you answer these questions and reflect, whether alone or in front of your team, remember to be real with yourself. Pretending you don’t make mistakes won’t help you grow, and it won’t help you book any business.

The tips we’ve just shared give you a plan that will ultimately drive success in high-value sales. Follow through on these tips by staying highly organized. You’ll find yourself finishing this year strong, and you’ll also be setting yourself up for a positive start in 2024.

It has been a pleasure to share these insights with you. Since 2001, our team at Treeline has helped companies like yours hire sales reps who are the right fit. Sales recruiters who care about high employee retention rates choose us because we help them connect with sales reps who click with their companies, clients and offerings.

If your sales force needs a boost of adrenaline, you need to be talking to us at Treeline right now. Drop us a line at Treeline today.