Karl's Appearance on the thought Leadership Studio Podcast

Most businesses run on cycles. There are times of the year where demand naturally peaks and then lulls in slower seasons. Then there is the ramp up to the busiest months of the year, where the prep work is arguably more time consuming than in the busy season itself.

Why does this matter to you as a salesperson? Because the stage of the sales cycle your customers are in changes what their business looks like, what their customers need, and how you can best provide value to them.

During his recent appearance on the Thought Leadership Studio podcast, Karl shares a workshop he did with a sales team that worked in the construction / manufacturing industry.

The sales folks had customers like ACE Hardware, True Value Hardware, Home Depot, and other big hardware retailers.

They found that, for their customers, the cycle was seasonal. During winter, when the temperatures dropped and snow was falling, so did sales, for obvious reasons. Customers weren’t coming in to get construction materials, gardening tools stayed on shelves, and most equipment needed for outdoor work wasn’t getting purchased because people weren’t going to need them for a while.

Of course, in the summer, that same product that was stagnant started to fly off the shelves.

Understanding this cycle was important for the sales team for several reasons.

If they tried to sell a bunch of supplies that would only be used for outdoor work in warm temperatures, they were a lot less likely to be successful. Even worse, their customers would probably start to feel that the salesperson they were working with either didn’t understand their industry or that they cared more about making a sale than being a partner.

Instead, Karl coached them to use the off season to improve their long-term relationships with their clients by sharing information that they’d value. Before the buying season started, they would share information about regional forecasts or weather patterns that might indicate an early start to summer or a hotter or wetter season than usual, as well as trends that may impact their sales.

Karl also noted that if the sales teams waited to start upselling outdoor supplies until the weather had already warmed up and demand started to increase, they may end up being too late for the rush.

The sweet spot, it turned out, was to reach out to their customers in the early spring to start conversations about what the customer would need in order to be prepared for the rush of summer.

Proactively reaching out to customers before the summer began showed that:
1. The salesperson understood the nature of their business.
2. The salesperson had valuable insights into the needs of their customers.
3. The salesperson was truly invested in being of service.
4. That this partnership was providing them value.

During his appearance on the Thought Leadership Studio podcast, Karl shared what understanding business cycles has to do with iceberg selling and how it helps you show up for your customers in a way that breeds better connection. Listen to the podcast now on the Thought Leadership Studio website as well as Spotify or Apple Podcasts to learn more!