Up your sales game instead of wallowing in the January blues

The New Year is three weeks in. Are you still ‘recovering’ from the holiday mood? “Recharging your batteries” as I heard it’s called? Are you like your buyers who object with “Bado ni January, boss? — It’s still too early in the year to come knocking. Do you spend (waste?) January, ‘recharging’ your batteries, having shut them down in December? Well, this year you have one more reason to take longer to recover.

It’s an election year in politically charged Kenya. All mainstream TV outlets have been counting down from 365 days to D-day and this year the tempo has picked. And of course, during election time everything slows down and so will your sales. So, better to wait and see how things pan out before sinking your teeth into the selling meat, yes? Well, here’s more reason to wait.

Wild card US President Donald Trump was sworn in last Friday and because his feared eccentric leadership is affecting the dollar and therefore Kenya’s economy, this will further certainly lengthen your recovery. As if that’s not enough, Ghana voted out an incumbent president — unusual for Africa — so there’s bound to be tension and civil strife there so let’s wait, yes?

After all, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Abdul-Azziz Awal Jemus Junkung Jammeh Naasiru Deen Babili Mansa (Conqueror of Two Rivers), who cannot imagine not being addressed as such, after 22 years in power, had refused to step aside despite losing in the December 1 Gambian election. Yes, this year is fraught with reasons why it’ll take longer to recharge your batteries. So, we should understand that your sales will be down.

Therefore, why bother following up on the pending riots and strike policy lead, or the fire insurance renewal? Why bother inviting potential buyers to hedge their funds against the dollar or invest in markets outside Kenya?

You see, the beginning of every year offers every salesperson a clean slate — to jumpstart their sales or propel them further. Stellar sellers take the latter option. They plan in December and invest in critical relationships (like back office) in January. They are the chosen few. Those who choose to jumpstart their sales are slightly more. Sadly, the majority wallow in recharging their batteries. Stellar sellers, for instance, will give the calendars gifted them by buyers to back office staff. The latter won’t see that coming and will be deeply grateful. Average sellers invest the freebies with their girl/boyfriends and family. You decide which of these two investments will yield riper sales fruit during the year.

Stellar sellers know that though bado January, buyers are still responsive to information that will help them solve their problems. (Who wouldn’t be?) And so, they browse the Internet for useful information their buyers need, and share it with them via email or social media and such other non-intrusive media. They know the client will appreciate it. The information does not come with strings attached. For instance, the software seller writes, “Here’s information you’ll find useful in solving the stock audit challenge you usually have during an election year. We’ll talk more about it when we meet.”

Average sellers browse to catch up on holiday gossip, to seek company for their ‘battery recharging’ misery and further confirmation why the August General Election in South Africa, happening at the same time as Kenya’s, will affect their sales in the first quarter.

Mountain climbers will tell you that the worst thing you can do is collapse in a heap when you take a break. In fact, experienced climbers do stretch exercises then. Novices drop to the ground panting. This makes it even more difficult to ‘recharge’ their muscles and sometimes kills the trip altogether. Equally, collapsing in a heap to recharge your sales batteries just stretches the bado January syndrome to quarter two. Don’t collapse. Stretch your sales muscles instead.

Mr Kageche is the lead facilitator at Lend Me Your Ears. [email protected].