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Is your business affected by seasonality? Mine is. We know there’s less demand for planning between April and July each year. You’ve got a plan and you’re executing it or things are going well enough that you’ll wait to plan 2024 between October and March
But from August, things start to go off again. People realize they need a better plan before next year or that their business isn’t working as well as it could. And then it’s back to sprint pace until April of the next year.
In our seasonal lull, I take the opportunity to refresh my pipeline. It’s not a marketing campaign. These are 1:1 emails sent from me to one person, specific to their business. I reach out to these groups, in this order:
- Existing clients – what’s going well, what could be better
- Past clients – has anything changed, are things still going well, what’s their outlook
- Pipeline – what’s going on with you, how’s the company going, is this a good time to reconnect
It may surprise you how often I’ll get back, “Oh, I’ve been meaning to reach out,” or “Not right now, but I set up a time in three weeks.”
Boom, my pipeline is now refreshed, like it drank homemade lemonade on a hot summer day.
Resetting your seasonal pipeline can be as simple as committing to a one- or two-week sprint. Make meaningful contact with a list of 10-20 clients and prospects.
If things are feeling slow or uncertain, do these three things right now:
- Open your calendar and block out two 90-minute periods over the next 1-2 weeks.
- Write a list of people / companies that are top of mind. People you’ve been meaning to contact that fit the description above. If it’s less than 10, crack open your CRM and pick a few more.
- Prepare a draft email. Doesn’t have to contain a lot of detail. Something like this will do: “Hi, you were on my mind / I was thinking about you this week. How are things going? Is this a good time for us to reconnect? Here’s my booking link.”
A big part of pipeline health is checking in with other humans. Make the time this week.
