Advantages and disadvantages of cold outreach in the summer

The summer is approaching and professionals tend to take time off to enjoy it with their friends and relatives. So, you may be asking yourself: ‘Will this period negatively impact the results of my cold outreach campaigns?’. The answer is, somewhat. However, it might also be a defining period for your company and its progress.

In this post, I will discuss the seasonal factors that impact cold outreach and the pros and cons of reaching out to prospects in the summer.

Before I start breaking down each topic, here is the list of them for reference:

Seasonal factors that impact cold outreach effectiveness

• the volume of working people
• receptiveness

Disadvantages of reaching out in the summer

• there is less traffic
• there is less receptiveness

Advantages of reaching out in the summer

• there is less competition
• you can gain a leg up on the competition
• there is a relaxed environment

There are two main seasonal factors that impact cold outreach effectiveness:

• the volume of working people
• receptiveness

Various stages of the year will have different amounts of people in office vs out of office. Cold outreach is usually impacted negatively if you have fewer people to reach out to. That is because it reduces your chances of getting replies and finding suitable prospects. On the other hand, periods after big holidays (e.g.: post new years) can be great for outreach due to the influx of back to work professionals.

The receptiveness level of people also impacts cold outreach effectiveness. That is because lower receptiveness leads to fewer conversations started. Stages of the year where people are in a better mood might get your foot in the door more easily (or not, due to distraction). Worse moods might lead to less receptiveness and lower conversions on your campaigns.

The summer of the business world in the northern hemisphere is between June and August. That is when the temperatures rise and the weather improves. So, in that period, professionals tend to take vacations with their family and friends.

For a sales team doing cold outreach, the summer then usually results in less traffic (more Out of Office messages). You are able to reach fewer people in general which can dampen your results and slow progress down.

Another potential con of summer outreach is less receptiveness to business meetings because prospects are thinking about the summer. They are relaxing and not in the hustle mindset. They are focused on the good times that the season will bring instead of optimizing their business.

Summer is an opportunity because as target companies take vacations, so do competitors. That leads to fewer people trying to reach the same prospects (inboxes are less saturated). So, it is easier to start conversations with companies, even the less attainable ones.

The sunny weather and relaxed environment of the summer can also lead to fewer walls up. So, decision makers in the office will be more open to socializing and exploring opportunities.

The biggest pro of maintaining or increasing outreach efforts in the summer is that you can gain a leg up on the competition. In B2B sales, momentum is important and it is hard to obtain. So, it is better to keep reaching out in periods when competitors ease off the throttle. They spend time on beaches and golf courses while you springboard your company into an industry leader.

Note: To avoid burnout due to lack of vacation periods, take smaller amounts of time off during the year. That way you give yourself cooling periods to sharpen the saw.

The summer is approaching and salespeople might think that it is useless to do cold outreach in this period. But hopefully, this post has shown you the upside of summer outreach to get a leg up on the competition. As long as you are aware of the difference in traffic and results, summer is a great opportunity.

Here are the main takeaways of this post:

Seasonal factors that impact cold outreach

• the volume of working people – there are seasons or periods that have more or fewer people available to target (e.g.: Summer vs Post New Year)
• receptiveness – there are periods in which the walls of prospects will be higher or lower (e.g.: holiday vs not, summer vs winter)

Disadvantages of reaching out in the summer

• less traffic – there will be fewer prospects to target which can mean fewer deals
• less receptiveness – prospects may be thinking about summer instead of hustling

Advantages of reaching out in the summer

• less competition – less saturated inboxes result in a higher chance for prospects to see and open your messages
• relaxed environment – there are fewer walls up and prospects are more open to socializing due to sunny weather
• leg up on the competition – you can keep momentum and gain market share when your competitors are taking vacations

Not all companies will want to push through and keep reaching out in the summer. That may be due to past failed summer outreach campaigns or they may want to enjoy the weather. This post’s purpose is to show both sides of the coin of summer outreach. But ultimately, it is your decision to make based on your experience.