SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Nov 19, 2015) - While it's a common perception that nothing gets done during the holidays, this is in fact the best time for all types of small businesses, not just retailers, to double down on sales.
According to new data from Pipedrive, a maker of action-based sales management software, it pays for salespeople in more than just retail to work harder during the holidays. Per sales data from more than 10,000 small businesses worldwide that use Pipedrive, salespeople close more deals in November and December than in any other months. Additionally, the last two weeks of December show the highest conversion rates.
While the end of December is the best for conversion, the data shows that salespeople at small firms around the world can expect to close deals at a 3.15 percent higher conversion rate in the months of November and December. In comparison, American salespeople can expect to close 2 percent more deals during this time period.
This is primarily due to the fact that companies are looking to spend their budgets before year end. Additionally, salespeople are more willing to cut deals in order to meet targets.
"November and December are the best months for your salespeople to work hard -- even if you don't own a retail business," said Timo Rein, president and co-founder of Pipedrive. "Our data shows that if your salespeople hypothetically close five deals out of every 100 calls they make in a regular month, then they'll close eight deals in November and December by simply showing up and doing the work. Now imagine if your salespeople work hard? In fact, the smart ones make a big push to add to their pipeline in prior months to ensure that there are lots of deals to close during the last two high-converting weeks."
The countries with the strongest increase in sales conversion of more than 5 percent for November and December include: Germany, the Netherlands and Australia.
This data is based on more than 1 million anonymized sales activities logged into Pipedrive's sales platform by more than 10,000 small businesses worldwide from October 1, 2014 through October 1, 2015.
The end-of-quarter effect
In addition to the increase in sales at year end, Pipedrive's data shows that salespeople around the world close on average nearly 9 percent more deals at the end of the quarter versus the beginning. The quarter-end effect is visible in all four quarters when looking at close rates around the world. However, the effect is strongest in the third and fourth quarters.
The U.S., however, is an outlier. The universal quarter-end effect is only visible over the final two quarters of the year. At the beginning of the year, however, U.S. salespeople close 89 percent more deals at the start of the quarter than at the end. This means, for example, if a salesperson closes 100 deals in the first quarter of the year, they would close about 65 at the start of the quarter and 35 at the end. This effect is likely due to the need to close off deals that were stalled during the holidays.
Hardest Year-End Workers
Salespeople in Portugal do 30 percent of their total sales work such as phone calls and meetings in the final two months of the year, two thirds of which is accounted for in December. In a similar fashion, November and December account for 25 percent of the yearly work of salespeople in China. While these countries work harder in sales during this time, this work does not always translate into greater end-of-the-year conversion.
On the opposite end of the scale are the Indonesians who only put in only 4 percent of their total yearly work in November. However, it's notable that they work extremely hard during the beginning of the year in January and February when they work on 31 percent of their total yearly deals.
To learn more about Pipedrive's latest data on holiday sales conversion, go to http://blog.pipedrive.com/.
About Pipedrive:
Founded in 2010, Pipedrive provides action-based sales management software to small businesses. Designed by sales pros, Pipedrive is unique in that it's built around the sales pipeline. It provides a clear overview of where leads are in the sales process and which actions are needed to move them forward, so no important deal gets dropped. The company is based in both the U.S. and Estonia and has 117 employees serving more than 10,000 paying small business customers worldwide. Pipedrive has raised $13.4 million in funding backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, Paua Ventures, Rembrandt Venture Partners, Monashees Capital, AngelPad, Storm Ventures, TMT Investments, and angel investors. For more information, go to www.pipedrive.com and follow Pipedrive on twitter.
Contact Information:
Media Contact:
Sharna Brockett
Pipedrive
415-734-1763
