August is notoriously the slowest month for sales in Europe. But that doesn’t mean you should just take the whole month off. (Unless of course you’re traveling around Europe with your family, and then bon voyage!)
Here are our network's tips for overcoming the European Summer Slump and how to have your business’s best August yet.
(And no it can't wait because if you've got competitors from the U.S., they don't shut down the same way, reminds our West Coast partner, Robb Miller.)
August is actually the perfect month to get ready to launch in Europe in September. It’s a tough time to recruit sales reps and BDRs, but, if you partner with an already European-based sales agency like Sales Force Europe, you can spend the month revving up to launch in Europe, from strategic planning to training your go-to-market team.
But, before you do that, Irene Garcisánchez, partner program manager of Schaman AI resolution intelligence, recommends you reflect first.
“With fewer prospect meetings and less pressure around quarterly targets, August is a natural time to step back and assess the first half of the year: what worked, what didn't, and what needs to change before the September restart,” she says.
“Use those learnings to shape and refine the plan for the second half of the year, so you come back in September not just with an intact pipeline, but with a sharper strategy grounded in what's actually driven results.”
Then, use the findings from that assessment to create any training and development plans. This might be, Irene continues, training on new tools — like AI for prospecting or new CRM features — or updating sales playbooks. It’s also a good time to do lunch-and-learns, encouraging sharing across your teams.
“Things there's never time to do properly when everything's running at full speed.” She says, “This works especially well in Spain because, with part of the team on vacation, it's easier to organize short, focused sessions with whoever's still around, without competing with the daily workload of the whole team at once.”
Summer is generally a good month for planning, says our CEO Rick Pizzoli, divide your summer planning approach by where you are in your European expansion:
If you’re pre-Europe launch:
If you’ve got existing European activities:
If you’ve got a European sales team in place:
And, no matter where you are on your journey, Rick says to use slower times to review internal positioning and messaging, in order to learn what’s resonating and what’s not.
It’s also a good time to update your sales tools — and test your comfort with new AI tools, then plan training across your team on any that are approved.
Finally, as with every other month, August is a perfect time to ask your happy clients for case studies and testimonials. And then translate these precious proofs of value into local languages and cultures.
“While there is always a key time for planning September onwards during the summer, I also strongly believe in running email outreach in the summer,” says our CRO Gavin Page.
Especially for products that involve multiple decision makers, he says, “One of the best results is an out of office email which gives a mobile or direct phone number or could introduce an alternative contact that is relevant to your outreach.”
Marketing specialist from Graphene Manufacturing Group Ltd Liliia Zharekhina calls this out-of-office harvesting. “Every OOO is intel... return date, deputy's name, sometimes a mobile. Log return dates and build a back-at-desk call list for the first week of September. Day 1 of someone's return can be the best connection day of the year.”
Stack your September, Liliia continues, by shifting your messaging from “Let’s meet this week,” to “Let’s grab 20 minutes when you’re back the week of X.”
Summer is a particularly good time to target with high-value content, especially longer-form videos, case studies, and research. Since their work is slower, too, your prospects are more likely to spend time engaging attentively. And, while far fewer prospects will be available for meetings, those that are will be more likely to convert, as they have more time to truly consider a demo.
Same goes for any retargeting campaigns. These are typically targeting people who have visited your website or otherwise shown interest in your business but gone cold. Hit your prospects when they are passively scrolling the socials, and you may just move them down the funnel.
Our CMO Jennifer Riggins recommends also taking this downtime to increase your LinkedIn network, by not only maxing out your 100 invites a week — use them or lose them! — but by posting and commenting on prospects’ posts. It’s also a great time to review your LinkedIn profile. (You wouldn’t want to be reaching out to folks in well-regulated industries as an expert in security when you have your birthdate public in your profile.)
And while you’re on that business social network, use this time to see where leads and former clients have moved to.
With all this summer intel, Liliia suggests, map out new accounts so September sequences launch with zero admin.
Don’t forget that, while Europe slows down for summer, a lot of the world does not. We know that calling from the States into Europe tends to be less effective — especially in the majority of countries where English isn’t the first language — but if they’re the only ones reaching out, decisions can be made while you’re out of office.
Don’t forget to stay in touch or at least make sure someone is checking your emails. Especially as a senior sales executive, you often have to be ready to close a deal whenever. I was jogging on the beach in late August when I got a call from a prospect ready to close and start in September.
All this advice is not to say you shouldn’t take your time off. Enjoy these warmer days with your family and friends. And when you choose to work, work smarter.
Are you ready to make the most out of Europe in August? Contact us now to book a conversation — for now or when you’re back in September!
