The holiday season distracts everyone, including managers, peers, and the wider company, dismantling the usual support and accountability systems. To maintain performance, individual salespeople must take sole ownership of their activity targets, as no one else will be there to enforce them.
Prospects use the new year as an excuse to delay decisions. During this idle time, priorities change, budgets are reallocated, and competitors gain access. Salespeople should abandon delusional optimism and treat these opportunities as dead, focusing instead on closing deals now.
Most salespeople wait until the new year to plan their first quarter. In contrast, elite performers use November to set Q1 revenue goals, calculate the required pipeline, and map out their initial actions, ensuring they start January already in full motion.
Failing to prospect during the holidays creates an empty January pipeline. Given a typical 60-90 day sales cycle, this deficit directly causes poor performance in February and March, effectively sabotaging the entire first quarter before it even begins.