This is the time of the canvassing season we encounter ever year. The weather is changing. It happens at different times based on your geography, but it changes none the less. Daylight savings time ends and the holiday season begins. Here are the realities. We’re in outbound marketing and we have to continue to get leads and appointments, but unfortunately we’re competing with a wondering attention from prospects at this time of the year. Face it, we’re competing with Santa Claus and the man in the big red suit will win out.
It happens every year and we can plan for it well in advance. You should be planning for this season at least ¼ to ½ a year ahead of time and getting ready for the November/December seasons. All it takes is a little planning.
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face”, from former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson.
Yes plans can go astray, but it’s important to have one rather than use the time of the season as an excuse as to why business is bad.
When I ran my own home improvement company I experienced the same thing and I still get questions as to what I can offer that’s different. I tried everything, I had the challenges you’re experiencing. I’ve listened to the naysayers and I got caught up in the negative attitude, but at the end of the day I was responsible for the company being successful and my people being able to make money, despite the season.
What I also can say is that I’ve been at this 21 ½ years now; I’ve been involved at all levels; having run my own business and having consulted on hundreds of private client’s businesses. I’VE SEEN and been through more than most marketers. Some things worked and some haven’t. I bring both so you have my experience to run with and hopefully avoid the mistakes others have made. I hope what I bring you here helps.
What are the typical problems of this time of this year?
As the year wraps up your marketers’ ‘mind-grind’ kicks in. They hit a wall and by their nature they try to push thru, then they hit Thanksgiving, then it’s Christmas. These are real challenges, but it’s important for managers and owners to be aware of it and understand you have to overcome this in yourself and your people.
How do you look at this differently?
Time problems – At the core of all the prospect excuses this time of the year is, ‘we don’t have the time’, they’re being pulled in different directions because of the demands on them. Here’s the reality though, it’s never a good time for people regardless what season it is. They want to push you off until after the first of the year when the ‘time’ is better. I’ve found that marketers accept this excuse more readily at this time because they can identify with it in themselves because they’re experiencing the same thing for their own time. The ‘time’ excuse becomes amplified in their own mind so they accept it from prospects.
All objections come down to time and money. You know your challenges so simply plan your marketing calendar accordingly. So let’s look at a calendar. My last Silver level coaching call was on the last week of October right before Halloween. The discussion of the call is what I’m writing about here on handling the last two months of the year.
On the calendar, the last week of November is Thanksgiving. It’s notoriously the most traveled time of the year and people taking off work. The first 2 or 3 weeks of November is pretty much normal. The week before Thanksgiving can be a challenge in setting up an appointment for the following week, during Thanksgiving. The same is true leading up to Christmas and New Years. Some things are going to be out of your control. Knowing this you want to strategize when you want your marketers working.
Consider limiting or scaling back your marketing the week before the holiday. You can get leads during this time and your people can have a ‘gung-ho’ attitude, but it’s going to be a bigger grind than normal.
So Step #1: Plan for an off-season. This business is more challenging physically and psychologically than most other businesses. It’s one of the most difficult skillsets to learn (but one of the most valuable) so people will appreciate knowing they will have an off-season, or a time when they can expect to escape from the grind. Plan for it in advance and people will appreciate it. You take them out of the major ‘grind’. You take the pressure off them and yourself. Most all sports have off seasons for their athletes. Think about MLB. The World Series just ended. Pro ball players play over 160 games and around the same season as we do. They start in the spring and go hard every day through November. When the season’s over the players have time to reflect. Their experiences set in when they have time off. When training camp starts they get a fresh start and they can apply their experience from the previous season. Giving your marketers time off allows them to recharge their batteries.
It takes a calendar and a little preplanning.
Unlike pro sports who stop playing all together in the off season, you can keep canvassing, you just slow down. For example, there’s no reason to stop canvassing completely between Halloween and New Years, that would be crazy, but then again, not everyone is in the mall on Black Friday. Yes people take time off and they travel, but there will always be someone around to talk to. My ‘off season’ is not about stopping work, but planning for pockets of time when you won’t canvass or market because you’ll be spinning your wheels and frustrating yourself and your team.
Step #2: What is your script when you’re canvassing during the slow times of the season? Are you using the traditional introduction pushing people into a free estimate appointment? At this time of the season you’re guaranteeing to get the objections. My system is the game changer because the offer is different. The offer isn’t for an estimate. It’s for an information guide. This is an advance form of marketing. This has become my key strategy. I teach my students to do this all year long, but this approach works like magic especially during this time of the year because people’s attention won’t be on buying what you’re selling. Stop trying to cram an appointment down their throat. It’s like continuing to touch the stove even after you know it’s hot. If this is something you want to investigate further, contact me and we can develop a script and get it in place for these last 2 months of the year.
The prospect doesn’t want to set appointments because they know they’re not ready to buy; they don’t have the time or money. They may have it, but they’re not going to focus on it right now. My approach builds value and still lets you capture leads without the pressure.
Despite focusing on capturing the lead doesn’t mean I’m not going to go after setting an appointment on these leads, the contrary, if I get them as a lead my system transitions to a second offer to get the price quote. I discuss this in some detail on the live Silver Telecoaching call, but it’s not the focus of this article. If you’re a Silver member or higher you’ll hear the transition to a second offer on the recording you’ll receive as part of your membership. (www.CanvassKing.com/SilverProgram)
Step #3: Create an award program for this season. Bribery works. Would you think about buying a car during the Christmas holiday? Most wouldn’t yet Lexus has a huge sales push during the holidays with TV commercials proclaiming, “A December to Remember” They’re entering the conversation going on in the prospect’s head at the time. It also gives the prospect justification.
You can motivate people with bonuses, incentives, and award ceremonies that are tied into the holiday; or a weekend getaway. It doesn’t have to be a big reward. For example here in the Cleveland area we have indoor water parks about an hour from the city. A weekend getaway to a place like this for the family of the top producing marketer, when it’s snowing outside, is a great incentive for people to hit it hard in the season. People love the competition and the recognition.
The most challenging times during Thanksgiving and Christmas are always the weeks before the holidays; plan for them.
To recap:
- Step #1: Plan an off-season for your marketers and communicate to them when it will be and why you’re doing it.
- Step #2: Get your script in place and train on it. Enter the conversation going on in the head of your prospects at this time of the season. Understand the majority won’t be in a persuadable mindset, but you don’t want to lose them as a potential prospect just because the ‘time’ isn’t good.
- Step #3: Create excitement around the season with awards, bonuses and incentives. It’s natural for people to feel de-motivated by the season and rejection… give them something to get motivated over.
Will it stop every prospect’s objection? No. But you’ll look back and see you’ve had the best November/December.
Here’s my final thought on the subject. Regardless of the strategy you use, prepare one for the season. If you’re using my system and you don’t get the appointment, but you get an abundance of leads, during a season most won’t prepare for it, there’s no better feeder system for you to enter January with a pile of names, addresses, phone numbers of people who said they were interested. Most aren’t getting leads during these last months of the year and they’re walking away with nothing, and have nothing in the pipeline. This is the game changer. There’s no better way to start the new season.
I’ve given you 3 simple steps to change your prospective and outcome on this season. No 1 step is more important than the other; they work in unison with each other. However, the game-changer is getting your script right for the season.
If you want to find out more about how to use my script and information guide strategy you can get in touch with me at cthompson@canvassking.com. The biggest question I get about the information guide is, ‘what’s in it?’ My scripting and guide will position you better than any other person or company out there. I’ve been talking about this approach now for 2 years and many have ran with the concept, but many need guidance in creating an information guide. The structure and content within the guide is critical, as well as how to position and present it to your prospects. My strategy works all year long, but it is extremely effective and productive at this time of the year, because of the mindset prospects are in through the holiday.
It allows you to market in a vacuum. Done correctly, the information guide will position you differently than any and every other person that’s out there marketing to the same prospects. When they ultimately meet with you, they know, like, trust and respect you; they recognize that you are the ONLY choice! If you would like to have a conversation about this then contact me at cthompson@canvassking.com.
Committed to your canvassing success,
Chris Thompson, The Canvass King