The last quarter of 2020 is here! During this year, we have talked about business stability, productively reviewing the year, and business growth – among other topics. These are all vital factors in creating a successful fourth quarter – and encouraging lasting growth into the new year.
With the above articles in mind, we wanted to dive into what it will take to make this last quarter successful.
Build End of Year Marketing Strategies
Connecting with your potential and existing clients is vital during this final quarter. The most effective way to accomplish this is to review your past, successful marketing campaigns from this year and reinforce them. However, if you want to add to your existing marketing strategies, here are three additional end-of-year ideas:
1. Survey your customers
Find out what they love about your business, what could change, and what they’d like to see in the future. A customer survey will not only provide vital information, but it will also bring you to top of mind for a variety of customers – and give you testimonials you may not have gotten otherwise.
2. Connect with past customers
This year has been incredibly busy. In the beginning, most companies emailed their clients about COVID-19 regulations they were following. Some companies continued to email customers and past customers frequently, some did not. However, as the year has worn on, email has become a less effective mode of communication.
Find new ways to connect with customers, both past and present. Give clients a call or a text, invite them to a private Facebook Group, talk with them on video via Instagram Story or Reels, direct message them on LinkedIn. Utilize physical mail by sending a gift package or postcard.
There are many ways to connect with your clients on a more personal, one-on-one level, which is often the best way to garner a positive response.
3. Partner with other companies
If there is a theme for this year, it is “We are all in this together.” As cheesy as that phrase may sound, it has been echoing throughout the country since March, and it has stuck. Think about how you can put that phrase into practice as a business by partnering with other, complementary companies as part of a marketing strategy.
2020 has changed the way many business owners communicate with potential customers. We hope you will continue to implement successful methods, throw out those that are unsuccessful, and try new lines of communication so that you can reach more customers and grow your business.
Assemble Your Successful Fourth Quarter Sales Actions
There are standard end-of-year sales systems that work for most businesses. While this has been an odd year, we recommend that you still consider implementing past viable sales strategies during this final quarter of 2020.
For example, every year, we recommend that salespeople go through their computers and desks, finding every business card, email, and contact they have collected throughout the year. Once this list of people is assembled, they should enter them into their customer relationship management system (CRM) and reach out to the contact.
While you may have fewer business cards this year, you can still do the above action by going through Zoom records, collecting information from online networking hubs, and just going through past email to find those contacts with whom you have lost touch throughout the year.
This end-of-year outreach is a great way to cultivate new leads, recover past clients, and gain referrals. It’s also often more effective than a cold call or cold contact because the recipient and salesperson have a shared history. They aren’t complete strangers.
In the past, a salesperson doing this would have invited the contact to coffee or a face-to-face meeting. This may not be possible right now, but it is certainly possible to do a face-to-face on Zoom or send that contact some complimentary coffee or tea. You can even get creative and build a “water cooler hang out” for five contacts in the same networking group or create an online end-of-year convention to reconnect.
There are many sales possibilities during this final quarter – and beyond. It’s entirely possible to create sales and reconnect with past customers, even if your company is mainly operating online.
Implement Service Boosters
Your company’s ability to provide consistently excellent service is tested during the end of year sales rush. If your business is like most, you have drastically changed operations this year. That means that you likely have untested and untried processes that will need to go into effect to handle an increase in sales.
Prepare for the end of year sales escalation by implementing the following service boosters:
- Create processes and procedures for every aspect of the customer service and product delivery lines.
- Examine existing processes and procedures – do they slow down or get stuck somewhere?
- Test out your processes and procedures. Do a dummy run to see if they work.
- Improve anything that isn’t working or doesn’t make sense.
- Train employees to use processes and procedures, and ensure they understand their role in the overall delivery of your company’s product or service.
Ensuring that your customers will be adequately served now will make your business more efficient in the long run.
Prepare for a Lucrative 2021
The end of the year is traditionally when business owners look ahead, create goals, and consider how they can grow their business into the next year. 2020 has presented unique challenges, and the strangeness of this last year may make the future seem hazy and difficult to navigate. However, it’s important to remember that, if one thing remains consistent, it is that things will change.
So, put your own stamp on 2020 and 2021. Set your goals and create your own change by preparing for a busy, prosperous new year.
Set your business up for success with Business Success Consulting Group. We are here to work with you to create an efficient company infrastructure and establish new processes and procedures to fit our changing business climate. Contact us today for your free business evaluation.
