Do You Have a Lull in Sales?
It happens every year. We start the year with a bang. In January and February inquiries come in steadily and (hopefully) quickly. Things are going well. You are on fire!
And, then… “BAM!” Silence. {{{crickets chirping}}} The pace of inquiries slows down. The phone isn’t ringing as often. The pace of emails from new clients has slowed down.
ACK!!!!
(panic sets in)
What to do?
It’s only March. Is this going to be a slow year?
This Happens
Every year this happens. But, we don’t remember. So, we are caught off guard. And, we worry. Undoubtedly, there will be a lull in sales. It may not be March. It may be April. But, at some point, sales will slow down at a point when you least expect it. At a point when sales should be coming in.
The good news is that these “lulls” are usually temporary. Things do typically pick back up after a couple weeks or so.
Get Information & Get Moving
I like to get control over these lulls. I don’t like to feel the panic. I want to have more say in what happens in MY business. And, I want to be able to know if this is just a lull or a true economic slowdown (circa 2008).
This week week I am going to share two items with you:
- How to get information on timing trends for inquiries, sales, and cash flow (for YOUR business)
- How to get moving (when things slow down, you have to hustle)
Do you experience lulls in your business? How do you react?
*This* is a great series. Looking forward to this!
We’re only a couple years old in this industry, so we were expecting a general lull for ourselves as word of mouth advertising takes some time, but we’re spending this time coming up with ideas, catching up with software that we need to buy, doing research, sending press kits out to newspapers, blogs and magazines and meeting with other people in the industry to share some tips and talk about ways of collaborating.Staying busy!
This is a great series. We experience the “lull” every year. Our climate in Ohio is not wedding friendly from November-March, so our business is always down during that time. We always start the year with almost complete silence, then I found that people were calling us later in the year (late spring). Once they found that planning their own wedding and all the work that is involved was a bit more than what they thought.
During a biannual strategic planning meetings, our company evalutes our current services and look for other services that attract clients during that period. We started offering linen rentals and other event items that are great for events any size that may occur during those months. Of course we are always looking to improve our current services.
Perfect timing on this topic! In fact, I had this exact panic attack yesterday. When things are a bit slower (and like you said – it happens) I try to take advantage of it by spending a bit extra time working on my business (rather than in it). I’m currently evaluating my referall process and creating a new plan for increasing the number of referalls I receive.