EPISODE SUMMARY
If you’re in the software industry, you’re probably aware that many companies shut down in December. Some of them become a little complacent and think that because it’s the holiday season, they pause their business, thinking it’s a slow time to make a profit.
On the contrary, Matt Wolach, host of SaaS-Story in the Making, believes December is high time to prepare for next year. In this episode, he will show you why you need to be aggressive at the end of the year, why you need to crush December, and how you can do it.
PODCAST-AT-A-GLANCE
Podcast: SaaS-Story in the Making
Episode: Episode No. 241, “Finish the Year Strong – with Matt Wolach”
Host: Matt Wolach, a B2B SaaS sales coach, Entrepreneur, and Investor
TOP TIPS FROM THIS EPISODE
Take Advantage of Year-End Expenses
The big question is, how can December be a big month for software companies? This month makes a different impression for some as it brings many downtimes, and businesses tend to put their guard down. But if you’re a smart software founder, you’ll know when to take advantage of this season to drive more sales.
Like Matt’s, many software companies have seen December as their biggest month. He even mentioned, “Most of my clients tell me that December is huge for them. And so a lot of people might be listening. And it might be saying, “Why is December so big? You gotta be kidding me. You got all the holidays got people kind of taking time off?” Well, there are a couple of reasons why…
One of those reasons is to take advantage of the closing of books at the end of the year. With this comes the taxes that various businesses pay at the onset of a new year. But if you look at it strategically, companies tend to look for ways to ramp up their expenses a bit to help lower the taxes they need to pay. One of the best expenses to look into adding is software subscriptions. This way, they shoot two birds with one stone by having a good year profit-wise while still being able to offset their taxes.
Work Backwards to Hit the Ground Running
Many buyers may want to put the expense into last year, but many buyers also want to start fresh with a new product. However, Matt says it pays to work backwards. If you want to get up and running in early January, you must ensure that you get the training done by the end of December.
Get the onboarding, integration, training, and everything else needed to get set up in December so that when January comes, you can start fresh. We all know that sometimes it takes longer, and those sessions and integrations can take longer. By onboarding a month ahead of your target launch, you’ll have more lead time to figure things out and get at least halfway done by the end of December.
Remember, the first step is always the hardest, so you better get it out of the way before you start anew.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Get Customers to Sign Up with Discounts
Another thing that Matt reiterates he has used in December to help them realize that they want to do it is using discounts on software subscriptions. Simply notify your email list, user base, or potential leads that you’re doing an end-of-year discount end in December, or position the offer as a bonus present to everybody who signs up by the end of the year. Your offer will certainly get not just eyeballs but sure buyers.
This is something that Matt has done successfully over the last few years, so you, too, can come up with specials that will help you boost last-minute sales at the end of the year.
Make the End of the Year a Start of a Prosperous Year
Shockingly, it will be 2023 in a little less than a month. Everyone seems to be taken off-guard by this fact. Sure, there have been conversations in the past couple of weeks where one person says, “Can you believe it’s almost Thanksgiving?” and the other people shake their heads, looking a bit dazed.
So, in the service of not ending the year feeling as though you’ve been flattened by the march of time, you need to finish the year strong to start fresh. Make December special for you. Offer a discount so companies subscribe to your products and they, in return, get new software they could include as part of their year-end expenses, and they could train their organization with the all-new system once and for all before starting a new year.
TOP QUOTES
Matt Wolach
[04:58] “And if you can do that now we’re talking, if you can finish the year strong, that can be a big boost to your company and show you your team, the market, you mean business in the next year. So come 2023, you can have more customers under your belt, you can be feeling good, you can feel confident, and you’re ready to hit the ground running to have an even better year in 2023.”
[7:21] “And they can feel better that they don’t have to pay as much profit or sometimes it balanced is completely. Okay, they can put all their profit back into your product. Now, if you know this, you can start to play on that. You can start to talk to your buyer. You can start to talk to your contact.”
[14:04] “So December, do not let this month go. You have an opportunity right now to finish 2022 in a big way. Do not let it go. Do not let up. Do not think oh man, I just had a big meal. I ate all these cookies, these Christmas cookies. It’s amazing. I’m just going to chill out. I’m just going to call mom. I’m going to say no, don’t do that. I know it’s easy. I know that there’s motivation or lack of motivation sometimes. I know it can be a tough month with family and things going on. You got to buy presents for the kids. You gotta, please push. Please make December special. Come 2023, you will be so glad you did because now you have a bigger foundation. You have more customers you can build on. You have more confidence to know that you can deliver and will have an amazing 2023.”
LEARN MORE
For more about how host Matt Wolach helps software companies achieve maximum growth, visit https://mattwolach.com/.
