Every year we come to the end of Spring and I start to hear this from my advisor clients: 'I'm having a hard time booking appointments. There's no use prospecting. Everyone is going on vacation.'
Woah! Slow down there, Nellie!
You've just put yourself on track to lose an entire quarter of sales and relationships. Can you see how this belief - and that's all it is - that 'no one does business in the summer' diminishes your focus and creativity? Can you see how it will dictate actions that turn the belief into a self-fulfilling prophecy?
Stop that right now.
Some advisors have their best quarter every summer. In fact, high-performing advisors know how to capitalize on every season and every economic situation. They continue to thrive because they don't buy into tired group-think like 'I can't make money in these conditions' or 'I can't book appointments because...' or 'no one does business in the summer'.
Instead, make an empowering decision. Decide for yourself that in fact, summer is the best time to reach people and book appointments to help them build a better financial future.
Here are four tips to help you leverage this time of year:
1. Make it true.
Now that you've decided you're going to take advantage of the season instead of hide from it, brainstorm for yourself as many reasons why you can bring in more business right now.
2. Improve your tracking.
You're right -- people are going on vacation. But usually only for a couple of weeks. So find out when and track all the relevant dates in your book along with a proper follow-up plan.
3. Fish where the fish are.
Increase your presence in all the geographic locations, venues, events and communities that come alive in the summer. Plan a working trip to cottage country. Find out ahead of time what trade shows, networking events or golf tournaments are scheduled and get involved.
This is an ideal time to reach people because they are typically more relaxed. There is breathing space for deeper conversations and for making a genuine connection.
4. Keep your energy and approach light.
People are more in a holiday mood and will resist any Debbie Downer talk. Instead of using heavier phrases like 'comprehensive review' and 'complete financial plan', when you make your invitation, position it in the context of 'short, relaxed meeting', 'get one important thing done' and 'get that off your mind so you can (either) go on vacation (or) come back from vacation rested and refreshed.
Alternatively, you probably have prospects in your pipeline who do want a complete financial review but haven't had time to shoe-horn you into their tight schedule. Make sure you go back through your notes to find them. Now is the time to reach out and book that meeting.
The moment you make the mental shift to seeing your current circumstances as filled with possibility, your creative and problem-solving faculties kick in. It's true that you can't do business in the same way that works the rest of the year. But once you adjust to the current climate and become willing to pivot to a new approach, you will see opportunities that you've never noticed before.
Here's to a prosperous summer season!