Are You Ready for a Bumper Second Half?

The past few years have been nothing short of a roller coaster ride in Promo and the second half of 2023 looks set to be no different!  

We’ve got lots of great events coming up, all those last-minute marketing campaigns to get prepared for, the holiday season (of course), and all our yearly targets to make sure we’re hitting too. Phew! 

Right now, though, you’d be forgiven for thinking that we’re in the ‘calm before the storm’ as the pace eases off a bit for July and August, pretty much in line with how it goes every year. 

But remember last September when, all of a sudden, things got REALLY busy? And it felt like the rest of the year just went by in a blur!? 

Well why not do things a bit differently this year? Why not take advantage of this quiet period to get ahead for the second half?  

Here’s a peek into what we’re doing ourselves here at DCX to get ready for a bumper second half! 

Quiet periods are the best time to take a step back and evaluate if your business is on the right track. Mainly, this involves reviewing the annual sales goals and working out the plan for H2 in order to make sure you hit them. As we’re halfway through the year already, this also involves getting tactical in terms of what activities are really going to drive the sales numbers needed. As we all know in Promo, a big part of this is going to be meetings and networking! But it’s not just the face-to-face time, it’s also the crucial follow-up, so it’s important to put in place the right resource and processes to support this. 

Your Strategy Checklist: 

• Are you on track to hit your yearly sales target? 
• If yes, what are you doing to ensure that stays on track? 
• If no, what can you do to plug the gap? 

• Are you maximizing your sales touchpoints? 
• Do you have a process in place to ensure timely follow-up? 
• Have you got the right people on board to support you? 

Alongside your sales strategy, you should take this time to evaluate what your other business priorities are and how they are tracking for the year. If customer retention was high on your list, how's your customer churn rate looking? If you track NPS, then what’s that scoring at the moment? And if employee satisfaction and retention were important to your business in 2023, then is that still going according to plan? 

Also consider the macro environment – Promo supply chain, global economics, shifting work trends – these are all things that need to be taken into account when you’re evaluating your priorities and working out whether or not they need to be adjusted. 

It’s an old one, but the Priority Matrix is a great tool that we use here at DCX to ascertain what needs to change for the second half. 

We all know how difficult it becomes in the second half of the year to take time out for training and hiring. There’s so much to stay on top of, that time for these crucial activities simply goes out the window. So, take the time now to work out your hiring needs for the rest of 2023. And if you’re certain that you’ve got the right resource in place already, then be sure to spend the quieter times now covering training, or ensuring that your team members have the training resources they need to get prepared for the second half. 

These quiet periods are like New Year’s resolutions – we always start off with the best of intentions, but the time quickly passes and before you know it, you’re snowed under again for the second half.  

Why not make 2023 the year you stay ahead of the madness?

Talk to the team here at DCX and we’ll help you get prepared for a productive H2!