Start Selling Everyday Like it’s the Last Day of the Month

In the average retail establishment roughly 80% of monthly sales are made in the last two weeks of each month.  Just over 60% of those sales are made in the last 7 days of the month.  And it is not uncommon for the biggest sale day of each month to be the last day of the month.  

As surprising as these statistics may seem, they actually represent a very real and understandable pattern in sales.  Mentally and physically drained from just hitting last month's sales goals, you come in Monday with a more relaxed attitude.  

You still help customers, but you are not as persistent with these customers as you were just the week before.  After all, you were intent on hitting last month's sales goals to ensure you made the income you needed, and time was running out.  

However, today is the start of a new ball game.  It’s a new month and you have at least thirty days to reach your new monthly sales goal.  So it seems acceptable to maintain a more relaxed style, because after all, you are making a fair amount of sales and everything seems to still be moving smoothly.  

Mondays relaxed style turns into Friday’s relaxed style and this Friday turns into next Friday.  Then all of the sudden, you get your first commission check for the month. You quickly realize that the pace you are on is not a pace that is going to deliver your needed monthly sales goals or desired income.  The push is back on.  You pick up the pace, you become more assertive with your customers, you push your teammates to step up the pace.  Each day that passes becomes more and more intense.  Each day becomes more pressurized. Until finally it is the last day of the month and with that final big push, somehow, some way you get the numbers you need. 

Sound familiar?  It does to me because this how I used to be.  It describes exactly how I worked in some of my earliest sales jobs.  It was almost like it was part of the sales culture.  I noticed not only associate sales people working this way, but the management staff as well.  

Then one month at the end of the month, tired of the “Big Push” and the brain damage that comes with it, I wanted to know what would happen if I sold the first day of the month and everyday of the month as if it were the last day of the month.  And for me this marked a turning point, It was literally career changing.

By selling everyday of the month like it was the last day of the month, my sales skyrocketed.  I found that since there was less pressure on me to make a sale like there was during the big push at the end of each month, I started making more sales.  I was able to be much more relaxed when working with my customers while at the same time being more confident and persistent.  It allowed me to come across as more helpful and professional instead of desperate, like I had during the month end “Big Push”.  In short, I was able to combine the relaxed style I had delivered in the past during the first half of each month and combine it with the persistence I had at the second half of each month, and it made a huge impact. My income increased by 50% the very first month I started selling everyday of the month like it was the last day of the month, and only increased from there. 

So think about it.  Are you like I used to be and like so many sales people still are today, taking it easy the first half of the month and then going for the “Big Push” in the second half? 

If you are, what I am suggesting here may be the easiest way to increase your income you have ever considered.  And here is the big surprise; once you get in the habit of selling everyday like it is the last day of the month, it quickly becomes a habit and is easy to maintain. 

So starting today, I challenge you to sell everyday like it is the last day of the month. 

Right, wrong or indifferent, that’s way I see selling from my perspective.

About the author: Jeff Cowan, in his 30th year of  Service Department Sales Training, is recognized as the creator of the modern-day, walk-around and selling processes for dealership service departments and after-market auto service repair shops.  Jeff is the nation’s authority when it comes to training service advisors and service support staff. You can see him on a weekly broadcast of CBT News and read many of his published articles on various automotive publications. Currently partnered with NADA, EasyCare, NCM, Marellen, and other vendors and manufacturers.

Visit his website at AutomotiveServiceTraining.com get info on On-Site Training, Public and Private Workshops, DVD Training Program, Webinars, and a FREE trial of Virtual Training! For more great tips and advice, follow Jeff on Twitter at@JCowansProTalk. He’s also on Facebook, and Google+. You can also watch Jeff Cowan’s videos on YouTube! 

For more information call (800) 248-2931 or from outside the U.S., call (949) 713-4469.