Summer: Seasons in Business

Welcome to another season in your business. Today I’ll be talking about summer!

Summer has always been a challenge for me, because summer = sales. It's the time we "make the ask," go for the sale. It's also the time (at least it felt like this for me) that I might be putting someone in an awkward position or asking them to take a financial risk, and I always felt uncomfortable about that.

But that's also why I now lean into that season. Because if you love what you do and the people you serve, this is how you have to show up - being prepared to offer them the opportunity to serve them! After all, we have to sell things to keep our business open, right? I hope you find encouragement in this episode. Especially if you feel a little "sticky" about selling, don't tune out or turn this off...lean in with me, friends. And let's enjoy some summer together!

Some Summer season business activities

Sales meetings - Remember those strategic relationships we were developing during the spring? This is the time to bring them to fruition!

Lead Magnets - Work on building these up. Provide information that is truly helpful to others and "spread the love" in your emails, social media, answers to dm's, etc. Adding value to people who may not know you already leads me to another activity...

Adding Value to People You Know - I'm not talking about adding value as a means of converting (just saying that sounds slimy, doesn't it?). But if you've been around awhile, you've heard this before. Adding value to others naturally attracts business and encourages people to work with you.

Pro-tip: If you're uncomfortable with selling, let me encourage you to take a different approach. One that I think is foundational to this season. Think of summer as a conversation. If you feel awkward operating in this season, choose 10 people and just check in with them. No sales talk; just find out how they are doing and what's going on with them. Be authentic and caring, and conversational. That's IT! And see what happens...

Asking for money - Yeah, ya' gotta ask at some point. If money or products are not being talked about, you're not having sales meetings. Now, those other conversations are not wrong, because we should always be caring for and about our clients and customers. But it's a rare occasion when you have someone offering you money. Know what I mean?

Continue to develop being a COI - Remember that center-of-influence concept from spring? Collaborations are a great way to add value AND make sales. They not only help you but can help the person you collaborate with as well. A win-win-win! Practice using the right questions - Learn how to ask upfront for permission to sell. Or go ahead and wrap up a call asking how you came across!

What happens if you spend too much time in Summer?

Ugh, this happens to some people, and trust me, it shows! When this happens, people will think that all that matters is the sale (read $$) and not the relationship. So you may be coming off as pushy. (If you need some help in knowing how to authentically steer the conversation from relational to sales, listen to Episode XX, where I talk about just that topic!)

Sending too much time in this season, also means you're not spending enough time in the other seasons: cultivating relationships, asking for and getting feedback, planning, and strategizing. These are all activities that are necessary to create health and balance. Your goal is to have the right amount of summer for the business you want to create!

What happens if you ignore Summer?

You might be ignoring summer because you can't find the right fit. Perhaps you might need to refresh your mindset or get more comfortable asking questions. (If so, take a look at the action steps, below.) But ignoring summer will obviously result in frustration by a lack of sales. and if we ignore it for too long, we might even have to close our business. (Think about it, if you do that, then who would you serve?) Another result would be losing momentum. Yes, there will always be high and low seasons. But a severe lack of summer could really be devastating to your bottom line, and thus your business.

Your next step - review time!

If I've hit a nerve and you realize this topic is for you, let me reassure you I'm here for you!

• Look at your summer - do you have enough of it in your business?

• What does it look like? Where are you at with summer? How are you feeling about it?

• What do your sales meetings look like, your sales questions sound like, what do your sales emails look like?

If you don't like the results of your review, reach out to me at alicia@proadvisorcoach.com, and let's talk. Let's rework summer so it works for you.

And come back next week when we wrap up this series and talk about fall in your business...till then, don't forget to rest, because, as we know…good rest fuels great work!