For many, Thanksgiving mainly marks the “acceptable” start of the holiday season and when we can start playing Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” on repeat. And for many others, it also kicks off procrastination season, “Let’s circle back to this after the holidays” season. You’ve probably done this yourself. After a long year you want to wind down a little bit and the whole world deems it more or less okay to take your foot off the gas and coast into the end of the year.

        Most likely it’s partly due to the symbolic significance of the New Year, the metaphorical clean slate and chance to start anew. The year’s missteps and incomplete tasks can be swept under the rug or at least not dealt with for a few weeks. You probably have half a dozen prospects giving you the “I’ll start up with you after the holidays, things are just too crazy between now and then” line. 

        But is it really so crazy? The holidays are a busy time, but are they so much more busy than the rest of our lives? It’s worth challenging in conversation, at least. When someone asks you if you can circle back after the holidays, simply ask “Why?” If it were a different part of the year would they truly be ready to jump into things immediately or does the holiday season give them an easy out and an excuse to slow things down? It could be that this is a sign of wishy-washy commitment, these prospects could be advertising their lack of drive and dedication, i.e., the kind of clients who aren’t going to stick with your program and will always be full of excuses. 

        People aren’t going to like getting pushback on their efforts to procrastinate but it’s worth it to see how they respond and to help you avoid getting the runaround. Those prospects who pump the brakes are the kind who are just as likely to disappear during the holidays as they are to actually follow up in January. At Online SuperCoach we’re here to help you overcome calendar-based objections and help you convert prospects no matter what time of year it is.