Business Goals: 7 Tips to Boost Your Q4

The last quarter of the year is fast approaching. You have very little time left to reach or even exceed your year’s goals. Discover 7 valuable tips that will help you crush your Q4 business goals.

Regardless of your industry, the last quarter is always the most important quarter of the year.

There are three reasons for this:

• Many people buy at the end of the quarter or the year. They know that the later they show up, the more inclined sales reps are to reduce prices.
• In many companies, if sales managers don’t spend their entire budget, they can lose it. As the end of the year approaches, your prospects will allocate this remaining budget to priorities that were, until then, ‘secondary’.
• Conditions within a company evolve throughout the year: ‘champions’ are hired, underperformers are fired, priorities change. Things can be radically different in Q4 compared to what they were in Q1.

However, don’t take these conditions for granted. You have a choice. You can stick with the same strategy as for other quarters and finish the year adequately, or you can implement a new strategy to completely exceed your business goals.

Here are some tips to help you finish the year strong and crush your business goals.

Set clear business goals

Be very clear about what you want to achieve in Q4. If you decide you want to achieve 110%, 120%, or 150% of your business goals, commit to doing what it takes to reach that number.

Review what you’ve accomplished since the beginning of the year to measure where you stand today and calculate the number of clients you need to sign to reach your goal, based on the size of your best historical deal and the fastest closing speed.

Determine the number of appointments, calls, and connections with prospects you need to make per month, per week, and per day. Measure your activity using these metrics daily throughout the quarter.

Inform your sales manager of the goals you have set for yourself

Schedule a meeting with your sales manager to review your performance since the beginning of the year. They will be impressed by your initiative, and more importantly, they will be able to help you identify and correct any performance issues, if they exist. For example, if your opportunities consistently fizzle out after several contacts, it means you might not be able to establish a sense of ‘urgency’ with your prospect. Your sales manager can help you work on explaining to your prospects why it’s important for them to act now and what will happen if they don’t.

Also, don’t hesitate to leverage teamwork with your colleagues. Do you have a prospect with whom you’re struggling to get your message across? Ask one of your colleagues, or even your manager, to join a call with you and see if your prospect responds better to their suggestions.

Keep the Q4 calendar in mind

The last quarter will pass much faster than the others, so you need to focus on all key dates over the next 90 days. Indeed, between All Saints’ Day holidays and year-end festivities, you lose almost a month. It’s important that you schedule your strategic actions around the calendar. Keep the holiday dates in mind before the start of the quarter to maximize the impact of your actions.

Re-engage your old opportunities

It can be very beneficial for you to re-evaluate opportunities that took your time but weren’t lost. For example, you can spend the first two weeks of October sending an email to all your prospects in this category, reminding them that the end of the year is approaching.

Here’s an example:

Subject: [Prospect’s First Name], how has your year been?

Dear [First Name],

How are you doing? Hard to believe 2016 is almost over, isn’t it?
As the year draws to a close, I’m reaching out to you again regarding [discussed project]. Do you plan to complete this project by the end of December?
If you think the end of the year is the opportune time to finalize this project, I’d be happy to discuss it with you to see how I can help you carry it out.

Here are some resources that might interest you.
– [Resource 1]
– [Resource 2]
– [Resource 3]

Best regards

This strategy plays on the sense of urgency and reminds your prospect of the interest they had in your product or service.

Call your ‘top 50’ opportunities

For prospects with whom you’ve spent a bit more time, call them. Bring up a personal detail from your previous conversations, remind them of the interest they had in you, and see if the time is more opportune for a collaboration.

Ask them for an update on their professional situation or their company’s activities. Similarly, don’t hesitate to update what they think of your product or company, share a ‘success story’ with them, and emphasize that the last quarter is a great time to finalize a collaboration because both sides are motivated.

During Q4, your prospects know whether or not they will achieve their goals. They will either be able to dedicate time and money to a project that wasn’t a priority until now, or they will definitively tell you they can’t do it this year.

Leverage ‘mass demonstrations’

Group product demonstrations are a brilliant strategy in the last quarter.

Every company should conduct a webinar during the first two weeks of October, showcasing new features or product updates. This type of mass demonstration will rekindle your relationship with your less engaged prospects.

Schedule your vacations strategically

The key to reaching and exceeding your business goals in a quarter with many holidays is to be available when your prospects are. If you go on vacation when your prospects are working, make sure to keep an eye on your ongoing deals. Check your emails occasionally and give your mobile number to your contacts so they can reach you if they change their minds.

BONUS: One last tip

During the holidays, make sure to get your prospects’ mobile phone numbers. If they take a long time to get back to you about your sales proposal, a personal call is often the best way to light a fire.

The last quarter can truly be a business generator if you prepare correctly. Start with a winning attitude, tell yourself you will do everything in your power to exceed your goals. Then implement the tips and tactics above to ensure your business goals are met. If you prepare your quarter correctly, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to exceed your goal by the end of the year.

And you, what are your tips and strategies for crushing your year-end goals?

Other articles that might interest you:

• Sales Coaching: Become a Go-To Coach for your Teams (1/3)
• Sales Coaching: set clear and measurable objectives (2/3)
• Sales Coaching: provide regular and constructive feedback (3/3)