How to Hit Your Year-End Goals
The final quarter of the year can feel equal parts exciting and daunting. If you sell giftable products you probably feel a little frantic even. And we’re all juggling our businesses while thinking ahead to wrapping gifts, swapping cookies, and preparing big meals. If you’ve been thinking about getting your clients a gift for the holiday but aren’t sure what to get or how much to spend, I’ve got you covered in this blog post!
With all of that to sift through, it can be really tempting to throw your hands up and vow to start fresh in the new year. Here’s why you shouldn’t do that, and how you can still hit your year-end goals.
Everyone seems to get so excited about January, but in all honesty, it’s just another month. Also, that looking ahead to the new year can mean we completely skim over what’s possible in Q4. Don’t make this mistake though!
Here are some lies business owners love to tell themselves as the year comes to a close:
I wasn’t prepared enough to make the most of this selling season.
What I sell isn’t “giftable” so nobody will be spending money on it right now.
I’ll have more time to focus on my business in Q1. I’m just so busy right now!
Are you guilty of any of those? I know I’ve thought them before! But I’m going to debunk them for you…
You may not have prepared as well as you could’ve, but here’s what you can do:
Work with what you’ve got. Maybe you didn’t create those special products you wanted as a limited release for the holidays, but your customers don’t know you were planning to do that. Promote what you already have as the perfect things to give as gifts. Then promise yourself to do more proactive planning for next year’s Q4.
You might not sell something people give as a gift (I know I don’t anymore!), but here’s what you can do:
Remember that people are constantly spending money on themselves. Especially if your ideal client isn’t someone who is massively strapped for cash. When I sold products, people were constantly shopping for themselves as they bought gifts for others. Also, consider things like weight loss. One of the biggest times of year that people pay for weight-loss support is the fall, because they want to get ahead of the holiday “gain.” As long as you can demonstrate why they need you, and why they need you now, then you’ll get sales.
Yes, you might have a lot of family obligations right now, but here’s what you can do:
Remember that you control your schedule. Are you doing all of the holiday things because you truly want to, or do you just think you should be doing them. Want to know something? We’ve never taken our son to see Santa or on one of those “North Pole” train rides. Other people do it, but that doesn’t mean we have to. He’s a teenager now and I promise he isn’t scarred for life because of this.
Also, we always think the future will hold more time, but that’s rarely the case. We might not have holiday events to fill the calendar, but we’ll probably fill it with something else. Perhaps you’ll have to change up how you work in Q4, but that doesn’t mean you should stop working completely. Don’t lose the momentum you’ve already built for yourself.
There’s no bad time of the year for business. It simply comes down to mindset and preparation.
In the world of direct selling, there’s this notion of “The Dreaded ‘J’ Months.” People would always say January, June, and July were bound to be a disappointment because it’s either just after the holidays, or people are away on vacation.
Since I’m someone who loves a challenge (and bucking the status quo) I set out to prove this wrong. I mean, let’s think about our own lives…do we as consumers really stop spending money in those three months? Hell no!
Instead, I knew it meant being flexible and creative, because what would normally work the rest of the year, wouldn’t work in those months.
I got around it by planning ahead, incentivizing hostesses, doing more 1:1 selling vs. selling at home parties, and overbooking my schedule in case of cancellations or low attendance at parties. Guess what? I ended up doing really well in those months!
I’m not suggesting you run yourself ragged all year, but I am saying that a lot of this is a mental game built on false assumptions and lack of creative planning. If I let myself believe the dominant thoughts in my industry, and if I hadn’t been proactive with them, I would’ve had some pretty disappointing “J” months year after year.
There’s no bad time of the year for business. It simply comes down to mindset and preparation.
In the world of direct selling, there’s this notion of “The Dreaded ‘J’ Months.” People would always say January, June, and July were bound to be a disappointment because it’s either just after the holidays, or people are away on vacation.
Since I’m someone who loves a challenge (and bucking the status quo) I set out to prove this wrong. I mean, let’s think about our own lives…do we as consumers really stop spending money in those three months? Hell no!
Instead, I knew it meant being flexible and creative, because what would normally work the rest of the year, wouldn’t work in those months.
I got around it by planning ahead, incentivizing hostesses, doing more 1:1 selling vs. selling at home parties, and overbooking my schedule in case of cancellations or low attendance at parties. Guess what? I ended up doing really well in those months!
I’m not suggesting you run yourself ragged all year, but I am saying that a lot of this is a mental game built on false assumptions and lack of creative planning. If I let myself believe the dominant thoughts in my industry, and if I hadn’t been proactive with them, I would’ve had some pretty disappointing “J” months year after year.
