The May Cliff is Here!

We can hear you asking, “What is Sanders talking about now??”  What cliff?

For a while this year, it felt like the global supply chain and the economy might be headed over Niagara Falls, and the jury is out on how our current administration's actions will end up.

As one pundit said, “The Administration has to Stick the Landing,” and we agree.

No, our May Cliff is that point in the calendar year when productivity goes on a three-month hiatus as at least 20% of the workforce starts to go on a rolling vacation.

We like to joke that in the summer months, the money leaves town, but the staff stays, so we look for productive things to do with our time that can set us up for success when the world is fully back at work around August 15th.

We ensure that all the companies our clients run take two key actions with their potential partnerships or new customers in the next two weeks.

1. Focus the conversation or have the courage to Fire the idea for 3 months.

Gather up everything that was supposed to happen this year and then put it through this filter, either on your own or preferably with others.

Here is a sample:

Will we make material progress on this in the next 45 days, and who will own that on both sides? Or should we put this on ice and pick it up in mid-August?

2. Use the Final 45 days of the first half of the year to set up a longer time flank. Are we doing anything in the second half of this year or the first half of next year?

You use the Focus or Fire conversation with the projects and ideas that are in motion, but you need some help with urgency.

The 45 days before either January 1st or July 1st are the perfect time to ask another hard question. You want to focus this question on the people who are aware you exist but are not currently in a buying or partnership process with you.

Here is a sample.

Hi Bill,

We are aware of each other's offerings and needs and are not working towards a partnership at the moment. I thought I would just get a quick gut check from you and your team.

Do you see starting a conversation with us in the second half of this year or the first half of next year?

We are looking to organize our efforts and not waste your time or attention.

If neither is the answer that works for us as well, and we can drop our correspondence cadence down to once a year, as we are not offering things that are important or are unqualified in some capacity.

Thanks,
Jeff

It can be that simple. The cleaner your choices, the better the feedback.

As the great Dan Joyce said, “A no has never hurt a salesman…..but a maybe has killed thousands!”

Many people face the emotional hurdle of not wanting to upset the apple cart or challenge the relationship.

However, the number 1 emotion we have noticed over the years that occurs when you follow this strategy is relief when some clarity comes into the picture and you and your team can focus on the right areas for growth.

Time kills all deals, and once you have cleaned out your pipeline a bit, you can stop fooling yourself that magic is going to happen and get back to increasing the number of new opportunities you talk to and refining your listening skills with new customer problems.

We have other things for you to consider working on during the next 90 days and will be back to you with them in the coming weeks.

Until then, have fun cleaning the crap out of your closets and pipelines and if you want to book some time with us to plan out the second half of the year our available times are here:

https://calendly.com/drewsanders/strategy-session

Thanks for your readership and friendship
Drew