It’s time to start your sales prep for 2025. Try these tactics.

There’s an old adage in sales: “If you’re on time, you’re late.”

If you’re waiting until January to generate leads for the new year, your team will be way behind by the time we’re singing Auld Lang Syne. There are only a few months left until 2025, and pipelines won’t fill themselves.

The last quarter of any year should be 25 percent about closing business for the current year and 75 percent about building a robust pipeline for next year. Sure, one tactic to close the sales year is ensuring reps close business in their forecast and make quota, but if you’re only focused on finishing 2024 with a bang, then you’ll be starting 2025 with a fizzle.

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As we enter this final quarter, some companies have unused budgets you need to grab (although that is a less likely scenario than in previous years), but most buyers have already shifted their focus to next year, and smart sellers have, too.

Prospecting for 2025: Set Strategic Goals for Sales Success

Account executives quarterback complex deals where sales success relies on an exquisitely crafted, fine-tuned prospecting strategy—not a last-minute free-for-all. Yes, we have goals to meet and tactical, day-to-day business to address, but signing new clients shouldn’t be the entire focus in Q4. That thinking is not strategic and doesn’t give us the time or permission to build a longer-term sales pipeline.

Don’t let your team waste time chasing new deals for 2024. Focus on finishing up what’s already well along in your sales process and encourage them to spend the rest of their time thinking ahead and prospecting for 2025.

My Mantra: Close What’s Closest to Cash

‘Tis the season to prioritize. You need to make time for sales prep for 2025 but still wrap up Q4. My sales success secret: Do what’s closest to cash first.

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Sometimes a client asks: How soon can we start? More frequently they tell me they’ve slated our referral program for Q1 or Q2. OK, that’s not as close to cash as I’d like, but it’s a deal I can include in my sales prep for 2025. Other times I can successfully make the case for a Q4 start. A prospect told me they wanted to offer my referral program, but they’d need to wait until January for budget. I wasn’t going to accept that without at least making my case. I outlined two reasons for starting in Q4:

  • His sales team would be ready to hit the ground running with referrals in January.
  • The holiday season was a great time for salespeople to network and put their newfound referral selling skills to good use.

To be fair, I offered different terms to make starting this year feasible. My prospect went from starting in January to agreeing to my reasons for Q4.

Deals like this are the ones I’m focused on right now, but I plan to spend the bulk of my time going forward focused on sales prep for 2025, asking for referrals from my top clients in 2024, and building my future pipeline.

What about you? Have you told your team their top sales priorities for Q4? Is prospecting for 2025 a key focus? If not, then what are you waiting for?

Getting a jump-start on business development for next year is non-negotiable. The holidays will be here in a blink. Now is the time to complete your sales prep for 2025 and set your team up for sales success in the new year. I’m confident you know how to take it from here.

My best advice for starting 2025 with a bang: Spend what’s left of 2024 focused on building a referral selling culture and creating a systematic approach to referral generation. In a recent interview for Will Milano’s podcast, we discuss what happens when you make referrals a cornerstone of your sales strategy. 

.(Featured image attribution: ada_aj)