No one is buying right now. Ho! Ho! BS!

Really? No one? Have you been to the apple store? You cant even see the floor. What youre saying is: No one is buying your stuff.

People are buying, theyre just not buying from you.

Wait! Arent YOU buying stuff?

Of course you are. The holidays are upon us, and youre thinking about/doing your holiday shopping, wrapping presents, setting up your tree or your menorah, the cooking, the cleaning, the family time, and maybe even some vacation time. Everyone has their minds elsewhere, so why think about work, right? WRONG. People still have to GO into work everyday even though their mind may not be there.

Heres the reality. Or should I say, the sales reality: Sales are happening all around you, no matter the time of year or the state of the economy. Companies are doing business, and if its not with you, then its with your competitors.

Now is not the time to give up or to make a seasonal excuse.

Now is the time to continue working your ass off, making connections, making calls, making after the holiday appointments, building stronger relationships, and closing deals because your dumb-ass competition is thinking, no one is buying right now.

Eliminate your excuses and, if youre a sales leader, inspire your team. Since you choose your own outcome, why not give it your best shot?

Take a lesson from retail sales:

Around Halloween, Christmas stuff begins to appear.

Two weeks before Thanksgiving the promotion intensifies, often with price incentives.

Black Friday gets even more heavy discounts.

And items begin to be sold at near retail for about two weeks before Christmas as last-minute shoppers are penalized for waiting.

The day after Christmas, EVERYTHING having to do with the holiday is immediately put on sale for 50% off.

And for the next ten months you couldnt give away a Christmas item.

You?

Are you the same?

Work hard two months a year?

For two weeks during the Christmas season you moan because you cant make a sale forgetting about the other 50 weeks of prime selling time that you could have worked at LEAST 20% harder.

Instead of moaning, why not head to the Caribbean for two weeks? Reason: You didnt work hard enough during your first 50 weeks. Try harder next year and youll be basking in the sun instead of whining about the weather.

DONT wait until next year. Start working your butt off now. Get in the holiday spirit. The holiday selling spirit.

Its not just ho ho ho,

its dough dough dough.

Instead of being a doughboy, make the dough, boy. Heres how:

If youre not making sales, why not make plans to make sales after the holidays. Dont plan alone. Plan by calling all your best customers and prospects and get meeting commitments for next year.

Call every customer and thank them for their business. Ask people what their needs are going to be for 2017. Ask about helping them, not selling them.

Put that under your tree, Santa.