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As we approach the final quarter of the year, many businesses will be looking to optimize their strategies in all departments. Whether you need to increase sales in Q4 to reach your yearly goals or if you are just looking to meet your quarterly goals, there’s plenty to strategize over in the final months of the year.
“Quarter four sales strategies should start ramping up toward the beginning of quarter three. If you want to finish the year strong, you have to start planning early,” reports Anthony Siskos, COO of HypeBlvd.
If you are looking to master your end-of-year sales strategy, keep reading to find out how to prepare for a successful year-end.
While every quarter is important, quarter four carries some extra weight for businesses. There is often more emphasis put on the final quarter because it's the time of year when you either achieve or fail at your yearly goals.
“Quarter four sales strategies should include enough action to dominate the holiday season. Don’t let the biggest sales season of the year pass you by,” suggests Dr. Fred Melius MD, CEO of BioSpectrum Hemp.
If you are falling short of your sales goals for the year, Q4 is your last chance to close some extra deals and increase profits. This can be a big deal if you have to present numbers to your partners or investors. If you are stressing about Q4, we’ve got you covered. Here are some of the best strategies to utilize as you head into the end of the year.
Before you do anything, you need to review your annual goals. If you set targets for your business at the beginning of the year, look back at what your sales projections were as you were setting these goals.
“The goals you set at the beginning of the year may differ greatly from what you were able to accomplish, but don’t let it get you down. You have to take it in stride and move past it with strength,” advises Den Montero, Marketing Director of Moeflavor.
If you are projected to hit or surpass these goals before the end of the year, congratulations! If you are looking at the numbers and see no way to reach the goals you set by the end of the quarter, you need to re-evaluate.
Once you’ve reviewed your annual goals, it’s time to make some sales goals for the final quarter. If you are projected to meet your annual goals, this could be as simple as staying on track with how you performed in the first three quarters of the year. If you fear you’re going to fall short, you will need a plan to improve your sales.
“If larger, more lofty goals overwhelm you, break them down. Instead of setting goals for the rest of the year, try setting short-term goals to improve your profits,” suggests Andrew Chen, Chief Product Officer of CommentSold, a company that helps brands with Shopify live selling.
Once you have the raw data in hand, you can start devising a plan to increase your sales. Also, if you’re unconcerned about revenue goals, you can set non-revenue-related goals like increasing your email subscribers or the number of returning clients.
Now that you know what you need to achieve, it’s time to make a plan. If you’re on track to meet your goals, continue what you’re doing. If you’re behind, your plan could include increasing your marketing efforts or offering free shipping to snag some extra sales.
“Businesses seldom get to where they want to go without a plan. If you have goals to reach, you have to have a plan. Without one you’ll be wandering around in the dark,” says Miles Beckett, Co-Founder and CEO of Flossy.
The good thing about quarterly planning is that you can break down the timeline into a week-by-week plan. This means you can be more detailed in your planning without getting overwhelmed.
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Once your plan is in place it’s time to take some action. As the fourth quarter gets underway, you should be fully prepared to make these next few months a success. You’ll need to follow and review your plan along the way, and you’ll also need to be dedicated to putting in the work.
"We took decisive action early in Q4 to strengthen our sales leadership and sales execution and this resulted in normalized execution of deal closures in the quarter,” says Max Chuard, former CEO of Temenos.
If you wait until the last week of the year to review your progress, you’re not setting yourself up for success. In the fourth quarter, you need to be especially diligent about progress reviews. If you let things get away from you for even a second, the year could be over before you get back on track.
One of the biggest hurdles of Q4 is the holiday season. Most if not all businesses will be affected by the holiday shopping rush. Before Black Friday weekend arrives, you need to check in on your inventory and operations.
“You can’t sell what you don’t have. Make sure you don’t run out of product during the busy holiday season by working closely with your inventory department,” says Max Schwartzapfel, CMO and Fighting For You lawyer.
These departments need a lot of time to prepare for the holiday season so you'd be wise to be available to assist them. After all, you can’t increase your Q4 profits if you have no inventory to sell.
Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday are on the horizon for Q4. You need to have marketing strategies prepared for not one, but all three of these major days. Email campaigns, website overhauls, and social media ads all need to be ready to go well in advance of Q4.
“Direct to consumer marketing tools, such as Facebook Live, Instagram, YouTube, and websites with fully enhanced SEO … allow suppliers to reach consumers effectively and measure that reach,” says Perry Reynolds, CORE facilitator for the International Home & Housewares Association.
Q4 should be all hands on deck for your marketing and sales team. You need to use all communication channels including your website, social media accounts, and media relations. No stone should be unturned by the end of the season.
If you have bigger deals to close in the final quarter, most of your focus will need to be on that. Identify your most valuable leads and make genuine attempts to reach out to them by mid-October at the latest..
“There’s been many businesses burned by over ambition. If you don’t think you can close a last-minute deal, put your focus elsewhere. A series of smaller deals can lead to higher profits than one large one anyway,” advises Jim Mitchell, Chief Growth Officer of Awesome CX by Transcom.
Q4 is no time to be chasing far-fetched deals. The clients you prioritize in Q4 should be those you feel confident in. Don’t waste time on major deals that might not happen at this time.
The most precious resource you have in the fourth quarter is time. It’s rapidly fleeting and never feels like we have enough of it. If you want to have the best quarter of the year, you need to learn how to manage your time.
“You want to know who doesn't struggle with time management? Successful business leaders,” points out Jessica Nosike, Director of Marketing at Black Girl Vitamins, a company that specializes in vitamins for Black Women.
Make sure you are buffering in enough time to ensure every person involved in a sale or purchase order is available. Many people take vacations during Q4 so don't let yourself run into any time-related roadblocks when it comes to closing a deal.
You, of course, need to be reviewing your progress throughout the season, but it’s also helpful to do a post-mortem on Q4. Once things start to wind down, take a final look at the year and see how you did.
“Make sure to check in with yourself and your team to ensure everyone is on track to meet their goals. It can be all too easy to let time get away from you when you are hard at work,” says Brandon Adcock, Co-Founder and CEO of Nugenix.
Did you meet your annual goals? How about your Q4 goals? The answers to these questions will help you better prepare for the final quarter of next year.
Once Q4 is over it's time to start thinking about tax season. Tax planning should be taking place year-round, but the fourth quarter is your time to really get everything together. It’s important to stay organized and plan ahead during this time.
“The fourth quarter of the year can make or break you as a business leader. Don’t let stress get the best of you during this time. After all, stress can be the deciding factor in a make-or-break moment,” mentions Degelis Pilla, Co-Founder and CEO of TribeTokes, a company that specializes in delta 8 vape pens.
Preparing for tax season ahead of time is the best way to set yourself up for success as the previous year closes and the new year begins. As you look toward Q1 of next year, use the lessons you learned the previous year to drive you further toward success.
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