April is such a tough month for Australian sellers.
As a result, we’ve changed our approach to April completely.
I wanted to post this earlier in April but I didn’t want to disrupt people’s strategy, without giving them the opportunity to think about it deliberately.
So with April now in the review mirror here is my thoughts on the most challenging month on the calendar for Australian business and their revenue makers.
📸 Picture this:
You have a 10K walk along the beach to a restaurant for a lunch meeting.
There is a howling headwind.
Because of that headwind, you can only walk at 2klm per hour.
You will need to leave at 0800 to make your 1300 lunch booking.
But…
You also know that at 1100 that headwind will reverse and you’ll have a tailwind that will allow you to walk comfortably at 5klm per hour.
Meaning you will only need to leave at 1100 to reach the restaurant by 1300.
What do you do?
Do you:
A: leave at 0800 and walk into the wind or
B: sit in a cafe for a couple of hours and start walking at 1100?
My guess is most of you will say – start at 1100. It’s the common sense thing to do.
So, why do we continue to sell into a headwind during April?
April here in Australia includes school holidays, Anzac Day long weekend, and Easter Holidays.
These all combine to reduce the amount of time you can sell.
A regular month might have up to 22 days for selling, yet in April you might have as few as 13 days.
So you’re at a significant disadvantage.
It’s even worse when your prospects decide to take a few days off to make a longer holiday block.
As much as 30 or 40% of your possible market are away from their desk.
You’re selling into a headwind. 💨
Think about the slow walk to the restaurant in the wind.
You’re going to be fighting a tough walk.
Sand flying everywhere.
You’ll be uncomfortable.
You’re walking for 5 hrs instead of 2 hrs.
All this has an impact on your mental health and how you present, both physically and mentally, by the time you get to your lunch date.
Selling in April, for most people, means you’re going to get fewer connections. Fewer email responses, in short, you’re going to be much less effective than usual.
This will have an impact on your physical and mental state.
So why do it?
In 2024, we’ve decided to close our business for that 2 week Easter block.
Because we can comfortably predict that it’s not worth the effort and the wear and tear on us and our people.
Sure, we might still do some things that are not prospecting. Like updating software, onboarding new clients or running a couple of internal strategy sessions.
But knowing what we know about April, we aren’t going to be selling in a headwind. Save the muscle for when you’re more likely to get a result.
It’s about being professional enough to understand when you need to be ‘On’ and when you can be ‘Off’…
What do you think?
Do you push on regardless knowing you’re going to struggle or would you be open to thinking about parking your sales function for a large part of April?
