Every business has natural ups and downs in its sales cycle. Some sales trends are tied to seasons, like air conditioning units and fashion products, while others are tied to an arbitrary amount of time, like purchasing a new car or buying a home. Whatever the cycle, it’s always easier to raise or lengthen a peak than to raise or shorten a valley. You will also achieve a higher marketing ROI raising a peak as compared to shortening a natural sales valley.
The first part of timing your marketing plan is knowing your sales cycle. Look at historical sales data and interview your sales team to plot your natural sales cycle. Look for seasonal trends, trends tied to new product launches, trends tied to financial catalysts (year-end purchases, tax returns, budget plans), and trends tied to market fluctuations. Plot the sales cycles on a timeline and mark your peaks and valleys. Your natural sales cycle may be monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually. Cross-reference those cycles with any reoccurring catalysts. You may have a combination of cycles or a number of independent cycles. No matter what your cycle, timing your marketing plan will increase your sales and give you a higher marketing ROI.
Once you’re able to plot your sales cycle, you can begin building your bulls-eye timing target. Imagine your natural sales cycle is a bulls-eye target, with three concentric rings of red and white surrounding a small red circle — the bulls-eye. Now imagine all your sales prospects are crosshairs continually moving toward the center of the bulls-eye. The bulls-eye represents the buying decision and the movement toward the center represents your natural sales cycle. Once the prospect reaches the center of the bulls-eye, they make the buying decision. That prospect is then moved to the outside of the target where they continually move closer to the bulls-eye through your cycle. The longer it takes for your prospect to reach the center of the target, the more important your timing becomes.
It is particularly important to reach your marketing audience(s) as they move across the final center circles, approaching the bulls-eye. Once your prospects are in the center of the bulls-eye, their buying decision is made and you will have to wait for another cycle to reach those prospects. Build your marketing plan to peak in reach and frequency as your prospects are moving across the final inner circles of the target. Time the duration of your campaign to span the length of time it takes your prospects to cross the inner circles and reach the bulls-eye. It is very important to monitor any shift in catalyst trends and adjust your campaign accordingly.
Your new campaign timing, when accompanied by sound marketing practices, will inevitably increase the height and duration of your natural sales peaks. Timing your marketing campaigns with your natural sales cycle will become easier as you continually monitor trends and your natural sales cycle.
