The end of December is always a tough time to stay effective (even if you’re one of the 5% of people still actually trying to get some work done). I prefer to bring Kerplunk and Hungry Hippos into the office around December 12th and make it Christmas EVERY day (just like Wizzard wished) but I’m aware there is still work to be done.

The key to end-year achievement is finding anything to do that doesn’t involve other humans - they are unreliable, already checked-out, drunk or at home in their PJs roasting chestnuts on an open fire, so just remove them from the equation.

The obvious task to address is planning for next year, so here are a few things you can be doing to set yourself up for a rolling-start come 2022:

Segment your data

You no doubt have a nice big wish list of prospects. Now is the time to organise it into something a bit better than the digital equivalent of a beer mat. Segment it by temperature, industry, size… whatever will help you attack this list in a meaningful way once everyone is back at their desks.

Personalise

Now is a great time to do some proper research on your prospects. Try to find one piece of work you could mention/talk about if/when you’re lucky enough to make direct contact. Note it down as a “nugget” of information about them; it’s a great ice-breaker and they’ll probably appreciate the effort on your part compared to the last phone-jockey that pestered them.

Set some goals

Kind of obvious, but actually write down and commit to a target. How many people do you want to try to talk to in January and how are you planning to do that? If you want to talk to 100 people by phone, think about how that breaks down into weekly/daily targets. If some are going to be emailed and some are going to be via LinkedIn, decide which is which now and add this to your beautifully-segmentation data (and don’t forget to use those nuggets!)

Happy hunting, and happy new year.