How to Keep Your Team’s B2B Prospecting Productive This Summer

Now that summer is in full swing, there are a host of new challenges that your sales team will face. Perfect beach weather and single-digit vacation countdowns are among some of the many distractions your team is up against. Not to mention, their target database is full of senior-level titles with 3+ weeks of paid vacation to take advantage of. Switching up the daily routine can help to overcome the myth of the “summertime slump” and remain on task. Check out these three sales hacks to manage your team and increase productivity this summer!

1. Maintain Consistency

   We all know, summer months are typically riddled with vacations, extended weekends, half days and other activities that pull executives away from their office. It’s easy to mark a prospect as away on vacation and forget about them. Even worse, time and messaging efforts can be wasted on an empty office, overflowing inbox, and full to capacity voicemail. Make sure your team is paying attention to the out of office emails they receive. A lot of senior executives are going to be taking one or two or even three weeks off this summer. Create a plan and process to ensure that all prospecting efforts are occurring after the prospect has returned to the office and has had some time to sort through other priorities.

   Key tip: Automatic out of office emails and voicemails generally contain a lot of useful information that can be used at a later date. Teach your team to listen closely and record important information. Gain insight into the names and titles of others on your prospect’s team who are still in the office. Take note of direct lines and extensions within email signatures and set follow up tasks for the end of vacation dates.

2. Shorten Your Call Plan

   You never know when your prospect might be out of the office next. Don’t let your team wait too long for the prospect to get back to them. If your typical call plan designates a touch once or twice a week, try upping that number to 3, 4 or even 5 times! You don’t always have to leave a message, but calling more often means you increase the likelihood of reaching your prospect in the office.

   Key tip: Pay attention to the time of day that each prospect is being called. Always call in the morning? That’s prime time for meetings – try back in the afternoon. You may also run in to a lot of administrative assistants still in the office. Assistants are your friends. Run a quick strategizing session with your team to uncover new ways to use conversations with assistants to your advantage in order to find out who IS in the office that you can talk to and lock down a time and date to call your prospect when they are back in the office.

3. Leverage What You Know

   Remember, the “summertime slump” does not discriminate. Executives who are stuck in the office, wishing they were on vacation, may be in the same slump your team is in danger of falling into. You will find that some of your prospects are wrapping up their fiscal year end which can get very busy. However, others are preparing for large board meetings in the fall when everyone is back from vacationing all summer. These prospects are charged with bringing new ideas to management to improve processes, increase revenue, and stay ahead of the competition. If what you’re offering can help with any one of these areas (of course it can!) then this is your best chance to get in front of someone.

   Key tip: Your team has talked with enough people to know that Fall board meetings are where initiatives are put in place and focus areas are decided upon. Work this into your messaging strategy and create a focus around providing value to share at these meetings. Lock down an initial conversation before the Fall, arm your prospect with the knowledge and materials to share with their team in the fall, and get everyone on board for a demonstration to aid in the presentation to the rest of the team.

With the right adjustments, this summer doesn’t have to be slow and you can help your team ensure that they are hitting the same metrics you strive for year round. Creating fun summer competitions to stimulate numbers and get work done is a great way to make sure your team is staying on task. Even something as small as taking a few minutes to go outside and launch a minute to win it game for those with the highest numbers is enough to keep your team energized and renewed.

How will you keep your sales team’s B2B prospecting productive throughout the summer to ensure your quarterly goals are met, if not surpassed?

How to Keep Your Team’s B2B Prospecting Productive This Summer