Despite the fact that California doesn’t experience a severe temperature swing to signal the change in season (boy do I miss that-not!), I can no longer ignore the fact that the end of the year is approaching. The Red Sox are done. The marketing machine that is American politics is in full bloom. The days are getting shorter; in fact it is only ten days until what I call “National Try Not to Blow Your Head off Day” (that first Monday after we turn the clocks back when your commute home is in pitch dark). That field behind the mall or storefront that is abandoned the rest of the year is lit up like a county fair as itinerant holiday workers peddle their Halloween/Christmas wares. Don’t look now, people, but father time just lit the fuse on 2008 and we’re going to bottle rocket through to the end of the year in a flash.
For salespeople, Q4 is both a blessing and a curse. Like summer, there are fewer selling days due to the steady stream of holidays and the fact that everybody checks out around December 15th. However, most of the rubes you are selling to also have year-end goals, so it is much easier to instill that sense of urgency around your widget or service. You just need to re-jigger the big company middle management incentive equation (high perceived effort level + perfect attendance + luck + last minute management change= bonus attainment) to include “my product delivered by Dec. 31st”.
If by chance you haven’t identified who the aforementioned rube (I mean valuable customer) is yet, then don’t fret. Keeping in tune with my equation above Jigsaw has come out with the perfect product for you called Unlimited View. Essentially we have just created an account type where you can view all fields (including name, email and direct dial) of every business card (all 10 million of them) on Jigsaw without having to click through “purchase” screens and swap Jigsaw credit. The recruiters and lone warriors out there have been begging for this since www.jigsaw.com went live. The hitch is that you have to purchase additional points for download, but if you are going to contact the prospect directly from Jigsaw (which you have to because it’s late October and you’re late for the show, Jimmy Jo Jo) then you don’t need to bother with that anyway. To find out about Jigsaw Unlimited View stop at any of our manned RV’s in the town parking lot…or just go to Jigsaw
