How to Overcome Summer Sales Slumps: Mastering Messaging for Continuous Growth
Ever noticed how once you're aware of a 'summer sales slump,' you start seeing signs of it everywhere?
This is the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon or frequency illusion.
It's when you start noticing something more often after you first notice it, and then you think it's happening all the time. Like when a song keeps popping up or you learn a new word and suddenly hear it being used everywhere.
Why does this happen?
Two things: selective attention and confirmation bias.
Selective attention means we focus on what's relevant to us and ignore distractions.
Confirmation bias means that we seek evidence to support what we already believe. So, even though the frequency of those things hasn't really changed, we start noticing them more and feel like they're happening all the time--and to everyone. It becomes truth.
“BUSINESSES SLOW DOWN IN THE SUMMER.”
Have you heard this one? I never knew this pre-2016, even though I had been in business for 5 years.
What I mean is-- I didn't have sales slumps in summer. So I didn't know people thought that businesses slow down.
Until I HEARD IT when my business was slow in the summer of 2016 and, soon, I saw confirmation everywhere.
Had all the business gurus I'd been following suddenly start talking about slow summer sales months? Or did I just start noticing it more?
Selective attention. Confirmation bias. Right.
Either way, it became my truth. And I didn't like that.
And as I'm known to do when I don't like something I try to change it. (It's the Enneagram 8 in me-- for better or for worse).
Here's what I see happening this summer:
Lots of people are talking about summer sales slowdowns and slumps…
AND YET…
Our Impact Incubator participants surpassing their sales goals right and left-- like Missy L who just opened the doors to her crafting membership and has already had a $30,000+ launch (doors are still open)-- which includes well over $6k of monthly recurring revenue.
IN THE SUMMER.
WITHOUT HAVING TO SHIP ANY PHYSICAL PRODUCT.
Our mastermind clients are supercharging their launches and are breaking their own personal records-- like D.K. whose audience is primarily stay at home moms who are typically checked out over the summer while their kids are out of school.
NOT THIS SUMMER. She has a pipeline full of interested clients as she gets ready to open the doors to her program teaching moms how to run their businesses from home.
Our clients know what's up.
What's the secret we are teaching them?
We don't take a lack of sales in the summer as truth.
Instead, we are focusing on what we can control.
And that's our expert messaging-- THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT SKILL YOU CAN BUILD IN YOUR BUSINESS REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU ARE SELLING ( ← yes, all caps, because I am shouting this as loud as I can! MESSAGING IS THIS IMPORTANT!)
WMessaging includes:
Deeply understanding your ideal client's buying behaviors, wants, and objections BEFORE THEY EVER LAND ON YOUR SALES PAGE.
Positioning your product to make sense to your audience NOW.
Contextualizing your product to the season.
If your sales are slow, take a look at your messaging.
If you don't know what you don't know about messaging, awesome. We can help with that.
This is one of our core pillars of learning in the Impact Incubator where we spend a whole 6 modules on messaging, have opportunities for live feedback, coaching, perspective and support 4 days a week, and asynchronous support 24/7.
Will we be here in the fall when the illusion of the summer slump is over?
Of course.
But why would you wait on the sales you can be making NOW, while swaying on the front porch of your AirBnB, as you read a book in a hammock. Doesn't THAT sound delightful?
If we seek evidence for what we already believe to be true and you're not surrounded by people killing the game-- perhaps it's time to switch up what you believe about the summer sales slump and come join us.
The conversation is different here.