For many businesses, summer can be the slowest sales time of the year. With people spending more time and money on vacations, summer sales tend to go down.
However, with the right summer sales strategy it’s possible to keep your sales up. These five tips can help you keep your numbers up throughout the summer season.
Talk Vacation
There’s one question that will help increase summer sales: “Where are you going on vacation?” People love talking about their vacation plans.
When you’re going to ask about their vacations, don’t ask if they’re going on vacation, assume that they are. Then, be prepared to listen. After they’ve told you all about their summer plans, let them know that you can help them prep for their vacation by getting everything they need before they go.
When you take the time to listen to people, they are more likely to buy from you because they have a personal connection.
Contact People Early in the Day
You can blame the gorgeous weather for not being able to make afternoon summer sales. When all people can think about is getting out of the office and into the sun, they don’t want to spend the afternoon stuck on a call.
Try to make all of your sales calls before noon. People will be more focused and have more energy in the morning, so it’s best to get in touch with them when they’re focused on work. If you wait until the afternoon, they’re going to be more distracted and it will be harder to make the sale.
Use Email
Email campaigns are a great way to reach out to your customers and let them know about what’s going on with your business. You can use email to announce any sales or promotions you are running, or just to send out a newsletter.
If you want to make the most of your email campaigns you’ll have to take a few extra steps. First, you’ll want to personalize your campaign. Anytime you can use your customer’s name, do it. It helps to connect with the customer on a personal level. Second, make sure you create a visually pleasing email. All of the information should be easy to spot so that when people glance at the email quickly they can find everything out. Finally, focus on your subject lines. A subject line can be the difference between a sale and the virtually trash can. Highlight your offer so that people are more likely to open the email.
Teach Customer Service
Now is the best time to train your team on customer service. Despite your best efforts, there will still be down time, so use that time to invest in training.
Customer service is an important aspect of sales because people are more likely to buy from someone when they feel comfortable with them. You should train all of your employees the basics of customer service.
Teach them to ask questions and listen to the customer. Taking the time to get to know the customer can be a powerful sales tool. Another great sales tool is learning customer’s names. If you have repeat customers, learn their names so that when they walk in you can call them by name. People love hearing their own name, and when you use it with your customers they feel like you’re friends not just sales people. Finally, teach your team to do everything with a smile. Whether a customer is happy or upset with your business if your team can remain upbeat and serve them happily (or with a smile) then it leaves a lasting impression. They’ll tell everyone how pleasant your business was to work with, even when there was an issue.
