5 Simple Ways to Kick Start Sales in January

December has flown by and gone with it are the days of lazing around on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate in hand. January is here, and it is now time to kick-start the hustle. All over the world, people are prepping for the upcoming year with commitments to eat healthier and work smarter. Salespeople around the world are gearing up to hit their targets for the quarter, strategizing how best to start sales in January.

Here are five simple ways you can get the ball rolling:

1. Automate smaller tasks

As a salesperson, you perform multiple tasks on a daily basis. Most of them are repetitive tasks—scheduling appointments, sending emails, creating tasks, etc. These take up a good chunk of your effort and time, which can otherwise be spent on selling. So, instead of manually completing each task, you can automate them.

If you are using a CRM software like Freshsales, you don’t have to spend time manually typing and sending emails, setting follow-up tasks, or updating records. For instance, if you want to change the status of a lead, you can simply set a workflow rule that automatically qualifies leads with a score higher than 70. It’s that simple.

2. Clean the junk data in your CRM

Over the past year, it’s natural for your CRM software to have accumulated a lot of junk and bad data. Salespeople would have entered lead information twice or uploaded an outdated lead list. As this happens over a period of time, your CRM experience may become unpleasant and complicated. So, before you begin working on those sales targets this quarter, look up for any bad data in your CRM.

One of the ways you can do this is by using a CRM that detects duplicate records. Even if you happen to upload the same lead profile twice, the CRM automatically detects and displays duplicate records based on the email address or phone number.

3. Clean up your pipeline

2018 may be done and dusted, but that is no excuse for your sales pipeline to remain dusty. You may have chased a lot of accounts last year but heard back only from a few. A chunk of your pipeline may be deals that have remained stagnant for more than three months, which means it is time to break up. Letting go of stale deals may seem tough, but it will help you save time, which would have otherwise been wasted on chasing the wrong deals and instead focus on the right ones.

One of the ways you can get hold of your stale deals is by pulling up a report of all the deals that didn’t progress in the last 90 days. Analyze the reason why the deal didn’t move past a certain stage by looking at the conversation. You probably forgot to send a follow-up email with the information they requested, or they didn’t respond to your emails and phone calls. You can either remove these contacts from your list or add them to your nurture campaign.

4. Reconnect with leads from the previous year

Most companies wind down activities towards the end of the year, with many refusing to even get on calls during December. You keep hearing objections like, “call me back after the holidays” and though this may seem challenging, fret not! Understand why they are objecting and ask open-ended questions that can help you uncover more about their requirements.

If the prospect is adamant about connecting only after the holidays, make a note of it or assign a task to yourself with a due date. Even if you forget, your CRM will not, and you won’t miss out on your window to reconnect with the prospect.

5. Manage your time better

The new year is the time for new beginnings. So, why not work on expanding your skills by setting ambitious goals. Start the year with a self-analysis to understand your strengths and weaknesses. Map out your daily tasks and how much time it takes to complete them. Set goals to improve these timings throughout the year.

You can manage your time better by not procrastinating on tasks. For instance, if the prospect asks for a contract while you are on the call, you can send it right away rather than after the call. If a portion of your time is dedicated to crafting and sending welcome emails to new leads, you can eliminate the manual work by creating email templates. You can reuse the templates when needed and also share it with your team.

That’s our list of simple must-do things to kick-start the new year in the right way. Got a tip that worked for you? Let us know in the comments below.

Cover Illustration by Ashna Liza Sunny

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