When I started my IT consulting practice in the late ‘90s I used to shut down my business from Thanksgiving until January.
I assumed nobody would want to start new IT projects in December.
People were busy wrapping up the final quarter of the year and coasting into the holidays.
I thought the last thing they wanted to do was to spend money and start a new IT project.
I admit it.
I had a major brain fart.
For some reason, I completely blocked out a memory from my network manager days.
My boss came to me at the beginning of December and said we have a million dollars left in this year’s budget.
We need to spend it before the end of the year.
Can you say "kid in a candy store"?
How could I assume nobody wanted to spend money on IT in December after winning the network manager’s equivalent of the lottery?
So I sent a letter to all of my clients (these were the days when most people didn’t have email and don’t call me old!).
I made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.
Many of my clients paid a monthly retainer for their IT service.
If they pre-paid next year’s retainer in advance, I would give them a discount.
They received two months of free service for paying for next year’s service in advance.
And they got to pay next year's retainer with this year’s leftover budget money.
It was a win/win.
The best part for me was I received a huge payday in December and I didn’t have to do any work until January because most people didn’t want to upgrade their network in December.
Think about how you entice people to pay you now for services you will provide in 2021.
Who doesn’t want a big payday to finish 2020 strong?
