The True Cost Of Letting Peak Sales Periods Pass You By

Ignoring peak sales periods can have significant consequences for any business. This article highlights the importance of capitalizing on these crucial times to avoid falling short of customer expectations, aiding competitors, and missing sales goals...

Ignore Peak Sales Periods And Experience These Three Treacherous Effects

Sales fluctuate throughout the year in all industries. This may not be a problem, because peak seasons like the pre-Christmas ‘Golden Quarter’ can provide plenty of income to cover slower months. This is the case if companies pay full attention to the sales potential, and increased marketing requirements, of crucial calendar schedules. 

Fail to do that, and even your best marketing campaigns throughout the rest of the year will struggle to save your business. Not sold?

This article outlines precisely the true cost of letting peak sales periods pass you by without extra efforts, like promotional offerings or increased marketing incentives.

Falling Short Of Customer Expectations

Many client-business interactions are based on unwritten expectations -- especially during peak sales periods. Customers may even hold out for things like summer sales from their favorite garden furniture brand, or start-of-year offers from their go-to brands. Failing to deliver something interesting and of value and you risk customer loyalty and trust.

The important thing to remember: It isn’t enough to simply stick with ‘traditional’ sales tactics year-round. Instead, you need to use data from a CRM to see exactly when customer appetites for your products are at their highest.

Working with a certified CRM consulting company can help you turn your most important sales figures into actionable improvements like:

• Product-specific promotional periods
• Increased marketing efforts
• New products and services 

At just the right time to best serve your target markets.

Giving Your Competitors A Helping Hand

Many customers wait until peak sales period events like:

• Mother's Day
• Father's Day
• Independence Day
• Back-To-School
• Black Friday
• Cyber Monday
• Giving Tuesday
• Boxing Day

And brand-centric annual sales to purchase high-price items or services.

Skipping these peak seasonal sales periods means you’re quite literally handing customers and dollars to your competitors. If your competitors utilize promotional offers and repurchase incentives, they could even see a soaring customer lifetime value (CLV), all thanks your doing.

To avoid this, simply promote yourself at these times, and positively differentiate your brand from your competitors. This means unique marketing strategies and promotions that might include free branded merch, or audience-specific discounts only you can redeem in that moment.

Missing Sales Goals By A Mile

Annual sales targets tend to account for higher profits during the Golden Quarter. If you're not tapping into such predicted busier times, you will most likely miss your sales goals by a considerable amount. That can be detrimental to your entire financial year. In turn, you'll have fewer funds for vital marketing campaigns for upcoming peak sales periods.

The best way to avoid this is to take time over month-by-month annual profit breakdowns in your CRM or accounting software. This way, you’ll see in advance where you need to increase marketing spends to engage in prime sales periods, and where you need to pull back to preserve profits that are less likely to reach the same ROI.

Final Thoughts On Peak Sales Periods

Peak sales periods are sales gold for good reason. Always capitalize on your peak season opportunities to assure your bottom line is black and not red.