Our Canadian Thanksgiving has come and gone and now American Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are around the corner with the holiday season close behind.

As business owners we all start the New Year with a fresh slate and have 365 days (366 in 2020!) to get things done with new goals. It seems lately that I have been hearing sheer disbelief about where the year has gone and how crazy it seems to already be counting down the days to 2020 – where did the time go?

Fear not, there is still plenty of runway to end this year on a high note so I offer up these six tips to help you close out this year. I also want to offer up two bonus planning tips to help you with your 2020 vision for next year so you can come out of the starting blocks with a fast start.

• Mine your client base for new business – I am never surprised when I work with business owners to find how much new business they are sitting on in their existing client base. I refer to this as ‘low hanging fruit’ that is simply ripe for the picking and not enough business owners are taking advantage of these upsell opportunities. Ask yourself these questions as a starting point:
  • When was the last time I did a review of my client base to see what products I offer that my clients do not currently own with me?
  • When was the last time I did a review with my clients to make sure the products they do own are still meeting their needs today?” 

• Write down your three top priorities for the next day – implement it into your planning that the last thing you do each day is write down the top three things you need to take care of the next day. These should be tasks that will generate immediate revenue or support your efforts to do so. This does not meaning getting on Facebook and checking out what everyone you are connected with has posted while you were sleeping.

• Prep as much as you can the night before – along with writing down your top three things, make sure that before you go to bed, you prepare everything you will need for the next day. This also helps with younger children in the morning and encourages them to develop good habits. This might take you fifteen minutes or so, but think how lovely it will be to have a calm start to your day, be able to sip your coffee and have breakfast instead of sitting in a drive thru on your way to start your day with bad coffee and another stale donut.

• The art of follow-up – did you know that it takes an average of seven touches with someone to ask for a sale before you get a yes? Take a look back through your calendar this year to see who you have not followed up with, make a list and get calling. Today’s sales superstars have mastered the art of follow-up by building a strategy into this part of their business. 

2020 Planning Tip – build a follow-up process into your calendar for next year. For example, Microsoft has a built in To Do List that you can use to flag your follow-up activities. It does not have to be a complicated system and no matter what you use, this will help you to stay on top of things so you do not let business fall through the cracks.

• Just ask – build asking for introductions on a consistent basis into your business routine. If you do not ask the answer will always be no and while you may not be able to close business with introductions you receive before the end of 2019, it will be a new group of people and prospects to connect with in 2020 to kick off your year. One thing I know for sure is no one ever goes out of business because they have too many people to talk to!

2020 Planning Tip – depending on the type of business you are in, if you are not already doing so, use an agenda with your prospects and clients and add introductions as the last item. When reviewing the agenda at the start of the meeting if you are asked what this is about simply say, “I will be happy to share this with you after we have handled all of the other items we need to cover”. This is also meant as a visual prompt for you to remember to ‘Just Ask’ for introductions until doing so becomes a habit the same as  breathing.  

• Consider a gadget-free desk so you can focus – according to a study I recently came across, on average users check their phones 150 times per day and having your phone just an arms’ length away simply adds fuel to the fire. Unless you need to have your phone close at hand for family or emergencies, I recommend putting your phone out of sight and on silent so you can focus on the tasks at hand. Contrary to popular belief you will not expire from gadget separation anxiety.

I trust these tips will be helpful and encourage you to keep your head down in the middle of the year-end festivities and celebrations. There is a still lot of business for everyone out there between now and the end of the year so make sure you go out and get it before someone else does!

I would love to know if you have any tips you have found have helped you finish the year strong. Please be sure to share them with us in the comments below.

To Your Success!