#10: Christmas Special

My journey through December's unique challenges, offering personal experiences and strategic tips to make your holiday season not just merry but also productive.

Every January, as I address my team, I emphasize how swiftly time passes. It always strikes me that the new year has just begun, yet we have so little time left to achieve our ambitions. So, I urge everyone in my team to hurry, as there's no time to waste.

Then, in the blink of an eye, it's December again, almost Christmas. Another year has slipped by. Have we accomplished what we hoped for?

Executives, after 5 to 10 years, often shift their mindset to long-term planning, constantly keeping their future vision in sight. This shift can make it challenging to celebrate short-term wins, especially if they don't significantly shape or advance that vision.

We often forget to celebrate our successes. So, I want everyone reading this to pause and reflect on this past year. Think about the outstanding job you've done and celebrate your achievements in 2023. It's been a tough year, but you've made it through. Now, it's time to take a break, reflect, and appreciate the moment.

…..this is you appreciating the moment….

As mentioned in my Thanksgiving Special edition, I have a complicated relationship with holidays. If you missed it or are interested in revisiting my thoughts, here it is.

#6: Thanksgiving Special

Every December, I notice that we tend to follow the same routine, year after year. Since it’s a repeatable activity for us, I thought I’d share how Belkins navigates from December 1st to December 31st.

Preparing Your Clients:

The Christmas period isn't ideal for running outbound prospecting campaigns. People are busy, often out of the office, and some are just wrapped up in their own activities. To succeed in December, we need to plan our month in advance. If we do it right, we can make it work.

From the client team's perspective, here's what happens:

1. We launch the majority of new leads and campaigns in the first two weeks, aiming to produce 75% of the entire volume by the 15th. This helps us catch people in the office and book some meetings.

2. Meetings are usually scheduled for after the New Year. We understand that December calendars can be full, so suggesting appointments in early January is a good practice.

3. The team wraps up ongoing campaigns and focuses on collecting data, compiling reports, and conducting a number of internal and external meetings to develop a clear plan for the upcoming year.

Preparing for Churn:

As companies reflect on the current year and plan for the next, reviewing existing relationships becomes crucial. This period is particularly turbulent for us and other agencies. The key questions posed on us by clients are:

1. Did we grow enough? – If not, where does the responsibility lie?

2. How can we grow more next year? – Who do we need to hire or replace?

While we generally have ongoing relationships that are secure, stepping into the new year with an action plan, new accounts closed towards year-end present less predictability. The question of "do we continue or not?" often leaves some on the fence.

For December, we anticipate a higher churn rate (10%-20% increase from the usual benchmark), with the focus shifting to the client team to renew contracts and retain accounts.

Several areas of improvement, from an account management perspective, affect churn rate:

1. Have you reviewed the current year's progress, highlighting achievements and key takeaways for your clients?

It's essential to conduct a detailed analysis of the entire Scope of Work (SOW) and, during a workshop, reflect on all aspects, focusing on solutions, progress, and learnings. Failing to do so can diminish the perceived value of your efforts and limit the assessment to a single key metric, such as revenue generated or appointments booked (for Belkins). While metrics are crucial, without proper analysis, we cannot create an effective plan for the next year.

2. Have you created a clear game plan for the next year, assuring the client of continued success?

A structured plan, based on this year's data, can reinforce long-term cooperation and provide opportunities for contract expansion or introducing significant changes for the upcoming year. This exercise is also an opportunity to align our strategies with the client's plans.

3. Have you renewed your client contract for the upcoming period, incorporating benefits for your agency?

The client team, already familiar with the client, can renegotiate terms initially set by the sales team, such as removing discounts or adjusting the SOW.

This step is crucial for sustainability and healthiness of your agency, as I discussed in my previous newsletter #8, Sustainable Growth.

#8: Sustainable Growth

4. Are clients satisfied with your support, communication, and overall engagement?

What improvements can be made? Surprisingly, not many Client Success Managers (CSMs) ask these questions, either due to a lack of awareness or an unwillingness to receive critical feedback.

Unhappy clients, communication mishaps, a lack of understanding of client needs, an unclear vision for the next year without supporting data, disorganized reporting, inadequate internal documentation, and flawed processes for introducing products or services – these are the hallmarks of December in the client team, a time filled with stress and frustration.

However, navigating through this challenging period paves the way for change and progress. This brings me to my next point:

Preparing Your Team:

December can be a challenging month, often marked by frustration as mistakes made earlier in the year come to light, leading to disputes among executives and dissatisfaction among managers. This is a common reality in professional service companies. The key question is: how should one approach these crises with the right attitude?

• High-Level and Strategic Thinking for Executives: Agency executives should focus on high-level and strategic changes that need to be implemented. It's not just about an individual's mistake, but how to address similar mistakes on an organizational level.

• Measured Approach to Changes and Ideas: Avoid rushing to implement changes or new ideas. This year, I probably recorded around 100 audio messages with ideas for our C-suite, but in the end, only a few strategically made sense.

• Support and Mentorship for Your Team: Offer extra support to your team, be available, and instead of creating pressure, provide explanations and mentorship. The period is marked by numerous changes, and having a well-thought, non-emotional adjustment plan is crucial.

Preparing Your Finances:

Account receivables need special attention during this time. Due to holiday busyness, some payments may be delayed or moved to the next year. Ensure you check with all clients and, as a rule of thumb, you can ask them to pay invoices due in the last week of the month earlier. This helps to alleviate end-of-year cash flow stress.

Preparing Your Sales Team:

December, the 12th month of the year, is just as important for agency growth as any other month. Despite the challenges of the holiday season, an inflow of new clients is vital. However, not all salespeople might share this perspective. Some may feel they've already achieved their targets and deserve a break, or they might prefer to push deals into January to meet their targets then.

I strongly disagree with this mindset. Based on my five years in sales with around 3,000 client conversations, I believe December can be one of the most successful months for a sales team. Here’s why:

1. You want your agency to be included in clients' budgets for the next year.

2. You want to reignite conversations with prospects who were not interested earlier and have been considered ‘lost’.

3. You want your highly qualified existing accounts to commit in December.

Great sales leaders know this and work with their teams to make an extra push, ensuring the agency is set up for success in January.

The emails sent, calls made, and contracts signed in December will be crucial for your success in Q1 of the next year.

Some of our best financial years were the result of our sales team making significant efforts in December.

Final Thoughts

The time before Christmas is always a blend of two extreme emotions: the frantic rush to complete everything before the year ends and a sense of humility and appreciation for a year well spent. While I'm typically at the forefront of productivity, measurement, and leading all-hands meetings to arm everyone with knowledge, during our year-end Christmas all-hands, I shift towards a feeling of gratitude and adopt a more laid-back approach.

Thanks for reading this laid-back and full-of-gratitude 10th edition of From Zero To Agency Hero. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!