Selling Products by the Season
In the business world, there are some products or services that people generally don’t need all through the year. In fact, there is a significant number of businesses that live off of their profits from one specific part of the year and attempt to get by with minimal revenues otherwise. These seasonal businesses can be a challenge to run, since time of year becomes a huge factor.
For example, many make the mistake of hiring sales personnel during the peak season, though experts advise hiring a month to a month and a half earlier, to maximize the time that the new sales personnel have to train and learn the ropes. It may sound like a waste of resources to hire sales personnel before the boom hits, but it does have its benefits. First, it allows them to become accustomed to how the company does it sales, making the process smoother once people start coming in. Second, it allows the business to weed out the ones that won’t handle the pressure during the peak period.
Some businesses have the luxury of being able to sell all the time, but have points of time where things are slow and difficult. An example of these would be car dealerships and the like. They are able to move their product at any time of the year, but winter is notorious for slowing sales conversions down to a crawl. One possible solution is to adjust sales quotas to adapt to the situation, placing less of a burden on the sales team. Others plan ahead and set higher-than-needed quotas the rest of the year, establishing a “cushion” to soften the blow of bad sales during colder climates.
It is usually best to avoid hiring in large numbers during the slowest months. Hiring close to the peak season is fine, since it gives time to train, but otherwise, it could become a long-term drain on resources. Note that there are also some sales personnel that actively look for seasonal sales opportunities.
By admin | 22. Dec 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments »