The fourth quarter is usually stressful for both the sales leaders and the front-line sales reps. Because

• This last quarter of the calendar year is the last opportunity for the sales folks to meet their yearly sales targets and end the year on a high note

• Also in this quarter, the selling time is cut short by a few weeks because of the holiday season

But Q4 is extremely crucial for businesses. This quarter has the power to actually make or break a business. That is why, in Q4, everyone tries to close those last opportunities and get contracts signed to meet their annual goals.

If you’re determined to close out your Q4 strong, you’ll need to be strategic. With proper planning and effective execution, you’ll not only propel your business across the finish line as the year comes to a close but you will also set your sales team up for success in the upcoming year.

Here are 8 useful tips which you can follow to make the most out of these last few months of the year:

1. Understand where you stand with respect to your annual goals

In order to create a sales strategy for Q4, you need to start by analyzing where you stand at the moment with respect to your annual goals. Take a close look at your financial records to figure out,

• What you have achieved in the previous quarters?
• Where do you stand with respect to achieving your yearly sales targets?
• How much profit should your team make in order to meet the yearly target?
• How long will it take for you to earn that profit?
• How much profit did your team make in the Q4 of last year?

This analysis will help you set the right priorities and create a perfect plan for Q4

2. Set your priorities, gather resources, and make a plan for the quarter

Once you know where you stand, the next step is to,

• Determine your priorities for Q4
• Gather resources that you need to achieve your goals in Q4
• And strategize a plan that pushes your business forward in Q4

Sit down and decide– What areas are you going to focus on for this quarter? And what action steps are you going to take?

For example,

• Are you going to focus on increasing the sales of any particular product?
• Are you going to target any particular industry, customer demography, or territory?
• What resources can you deploy to get more deals to closure in this short period of time?
• What can you do to create a sense of urgency with your buyer to help move up the deal? Special pricing, discounts, extra resources, or added services can motivate a customer to commit sooner.
• What rapid response plans can your marketing team quickly implement to generate demand? Having campaigns that can be turned on and off, and easily deployed is a good practice at any quarter.

3. Ask your team members to analyze the pipeline and make a list of deals they can go after in the next few months

Next, ask your sales reps to take a close look at their sales funnel and determine which deals can be realistically closed in the next 3 months. This will help in directing their focus in the right direction.

Tell them that they can prioritize the customers in their pipeline by categorizing them into the following four categories:

• Deals that will definitely be close
• Deals that aren’t sure things, but have a high likelihood of being closed
• Deals that would be extraordinary wins, but are probably a stretch
• Deals that are placeholders in the funnel, whether knowingly or unknowingly

This categorization helps them to focus on those customers who have a higher likelihood of getting converted

4. Hold a team meeting to communicate goals and brainstorm ideas on how to speed-up deals

Call for a team meeting and gather all your sales reps in a conference room and clearly explain the quarterly sales goals to them. And then brainstorm together, discuss and come up with ideas on how to move deals to closure quickly.

5. Collaborate with marketing to create valuable content.

Encourage your marketing and sales employees to collaborate on creating relevant pieces of content for additional sales support.

This content can especially help your salespeople in battling common objections. Your sales reps can simply pass that content along to their key prospects and move on to other prospects and/or challenges.

Ask your sales and marketing employees to ensure that the content is educational and not promotional. Educational content shows that your reps care about teaching the prospects about your category, as opposed to just trying to sell to them. This will help in establishing your sales reps as thought leaders.

6. Remember remarketing

With the holiday season in near sight, Q4 is actually the perfect time to gain the attention of new customers as well as loyal clients. Strong marketing campaigns will help you pull in consumers and make more sales during the end of the year.

Think about what marketing tactics have worked well in previous years. Start early and refine your sales pitch, web pages, marketing emails, and social media messages that will be a part of your marketing campaign.

7. Build contests around advancing opportunities and closing deals

We all know that salespeople are motivated by good compensation. But after that, recognition and competition stand as top motivators. Leverage this by organizing contests around their sales activities which help them to crush their quarterly sales goals.

Even though it’s the end of the quarter, through your contests you want to motivate the types of behaviors that keep the early stage sales as well as the final stage sales moving. If your team only focuses on deals that are about to close, you won’t be setting them up for success next quarter.

Plus, you never know– one of those early-stage deals might move quickly enough to help in the current quarter.

8. Make sure you’re communicating more than calculating

It’s easy to get buried in the numbers right now. But lend yourself and your resources to your team, and you’ll make it more likely that those calculations come out favorably.

Ask your reps how you can help them,

• Does anyone in your team need deal-specific coaching?
• Are there any roadblocks that you can remove for your team?
• Can you assist in determining what language should be used when communicating with prospects in delicate situations?

Your involvement and help really make all the difference for your reps and gets them to succeed in their endeavors.

By using these tips, you can be sure about achieving business success in the final quarter of the year. With some time, effort, and work, your company will be where you want it to be for the new year as well.

Want to learn how to plan for a new quarter?

Read: How to plan for a new sales quarter?

Planning to create a sales plan for your business? Here are some articles to help you with it:

Sales Plan Part-1: How to Create a Sales Plan?

Sales Plan Part-2: Different Types of Sales Plans (Templates + Examples)

Sales Plan Part-3: How to optimize your Sales Planning for Rep Success in 2021

Want to know how to conduct deal coaching?

Read: Deal Coaching question that you should ask to help your reps to close more deals