Catching a prospect at the right time is key to increasing the chances of conversion.
Catching prospects at the right time in their sales cycles can be the difference between winning merchant services business and losing it. Although you want to look for “pain” that can lead to a sale, you also need to ensure the prospect has the budget and that you’re approaching them at the right time. Timing can be the most challenging thing to master — and the most frustrating reason for lost deals. However, understanding sales cycles and how they vary by industry can help you develop a winning sales outreach plan to win more business.
Retail sales cycles.
Pitching merchant services to retailers at the wrong time of year will likely result in prospects ghosting your sales teams. However, timing your sales calls so they line up with the annual ebb and flow of retail can lead to more meaningful conversations with decision makers.
Retailers rarely have time to take a breath from August through December, with back-to-school promotions, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and holiday shopping. Hold off on trying to schedule demos or pitch merchant services during these months.
The optimal time to plan outreach to retailers is after the winter holidays and before business heats up again in the late summer and fall. Decision-makers will be focused on improving over last year’s numbers and more available and willing to hear about solutions.
Pitching merchant services to restaurants.
Businesses in the restaurant industry have a less predictable cycle. The seasonality of some restaurants can depend on the weather and location, type of concept, and trends in consumer behavior. For example, a waterfront restaurant may be in the height of peak season during the summer months, while a concept located inside a ski resort might be experiencing its slowest time of year.
To ensure that your sales teams reach decision-makers at the opportune time, do your due diligence to pinpoint peak sales months to avoid them. Then, target the months that follow as a good time to approach restaurant owners.
Education and government sales cycles.
These vertices typically have the most rigid sales cycles and small windows for pitching merchant services. The first step to winning business with publicly funded education and government agencies (think first responders and other local operations) is to know when their fiscal year begins.
For many, that will be in July. However, that means that budgeting discussions start in January for the following year, making it a good time for sales teams to begin their outreach to decision-makers. Keep in mind that vendors often need to register as a bidder, submit a proposal, and await the review of a selection committee. Start the conversation by asking about any upcoming proposals and their timelines for submission and review.
Sales cycles of professional services.
Like restaurant concepts, professional services sales cycles depend on the type of service. Do your homework to understand the seasonality of your prospects.
- Accountants: It should be a no-brainer, but tax season has these professionals buried in paperwork. Avoid the first quarter when planning your outreach.
- Lawyers: The busy season for lawyers depends on the area of law they practice. For example, based on Social Security Disability Insurance applications data showing Q2 with the most submissions year over year, it follows that disability attorneys see an uptick from April through June. Divorce attorneys are busy during January, aka “divorce month,” since many people seeking a divorce wait until after the holidays to file.
- Architects: Spring and summer tend to be the busiest for architects as their customers’ sales cycles have them starting new projects toward the end of winter. The natural flow of work and deadlines means that architects are pushing to close projects by the end of summer. Plan to prospect to this group in Q3 and Q4.
Aligning with your clients’ schedules, in general.
Once you’ve determined a target for the time of year to approach clients, you can refine that strategy even more by pinpointing the best times to reach out.
The best days to connect with prospects, particularly when making cold calls, tend to be Wednesdays and Thursdays. People commonly front load at the beginning of their weeks and have more availability mid-week. Additionally, this provides time for prospects to consider your offer before the week is out.
For future calls, make an appointment, which can increase the chances that they’ll be available when you want to follow up.
Perfect your game plan.
Now that you have the timing of your prospects’ sales cycles plotted out, your homework doesn’t end there. Before reaching out to prospects, do a deep dive into their revenues, D&B number, LinkedIn profiles, Crunchbase site, and press releases. You’ll be able to glean information to make educated guesses on if they have the capital to invest in your services and where their interests lie. Then, customize your pitches accordingly.
You’ll showcase your authority over competitors, and start the relationship on a positive note that will go a long way to helping you close more prospects and build longer-term, stickier relationships.
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