Know Your Clients Important Dates To Gain More Sales

Did you realize that there are certain Trigger dates that your clients may have that can help you plan when to sell to them?

What do I mean by Trigger dates? These are due dates where certain things need to be done in order to accomplish something. This could be a regulatory requirement, an internal requirement or even an external requirements.

For example, in regards to a regulatory requirement, in Canada, we have a tax credit you can get from the government which is call the Scientific Research and Experimental Development Credit. A company can get tax credits up to 35% of all eligible R&D costs, but you only have 18 months to claim from the start of any tax year. Since most companies tax years start on January 1st, you can claim any eligible costs that you have incurred up to June 30th the following year.

Since most companies new year starts on January 1, then you know that in most instances you have to have a claim filed by June 30th. Lets say that the average claim takes approximately 1 month to prepare and that the average sell cycle is 3 months, so in total, you would need 4 months from start to finish if you were engaging with a qualified prospect. This would allow you to build a marketing plan to engage clients in advance of that 4 month period and then take them through a sell cycle until you file a claim.

Another example is when companies are creating capital budgets each year. Most companies will have their capital budget drawn up 3 or 4 months before the start of a new year, which means that you need to be engaged with a company a few months before the capital budget is finalized in order for your projects to get funding. If you miss the capital budget finalization date, then you may have a hard time getting your project funded until the following year. Know these dates will allow you to plan you sales cycle appropriately.

One arbitrary Trigger Date that we have in the oil and gas patch in Calgary is early December when winter drilling season starts. This is the time when most oil and gas companies are doing the bulk of their drilling for oil and gas. Knowing that this lasts for up to 4 months and knowing that you will have a hard time getting a hold of anyone in an oil and gas company during this time means that you will have to engage this client prior to December or else you probably won't see them for a few months. You need to plan appropriately.

By realizing when your clients have specific dates that they have to adhere to or where you won't be able to get in to see them will help you plan appropriately for your sales activities. Make sure that you investigate your clients time requirements to ensure it won't impact your sales.

by: Chris Hamilton

POST COMMENT

Moving Leads- Links To Potential Clients & Increase Sales Sales Leads - Inbound Vs. Inbound Jaguar Accessories Assist In Helping Jaguar Sales Reseller Hosting : No Need to Sell Good Buys from Sales of Distressed Properties Cheap Webhosting Reseller The CCT (Checkerboard Coaching Technique sm) for Sales Performance Is Short sales The Best Option? Direct Sales Training To Increase Your Commissions Importance of Quality Content to Drive Revenue and Sales Cutting-edge Sales Training Courses Mean Sales Success Stories Best Reseller Hosting For 2010 Sales Assessments To Hire The Best Sales Person