What are Blitz Days?

A Blitz is defined as a sudden explosive effort to accomplish something. Similarly, in sales, a Blitz Day is a day in which a sales team make an explosive effort to accomplish a specific goal, such as to boost the sales of an existing product or push a brand new one. These days are accompanied by incentives rewarding employees for their efforts, usually structured to nurture a sense of healthy competition between colleagues, which can be especially effective as around 53% of sales team members self-identify as competitive people (Prodoscore, 2020).

Blitz days are an amazing way to both generate excitement around your brand and raise office moral at the same time. They have however remained quite a niche strategy amongst most companies as when executed incorrectly they risk becoming a waste of company time and resources. Thankfully, we at Inconnection are here to help.

Why Should Your Company Organise a Blitz Day?

Blitz Days are great if your company is looking for immediate results, such as supporting the launch of a product, however we’ve found that this strategy really shines when it comes to seasonal products: as you might expect seasonal products sell best during the relevant time-period and tend to experience a drastic dip in sales the moment that period ends, leaving quite a brief window to move as much product as possible. Blitz Days focused around said products give your team the opportunity to optimally capitalise on this window or perhaps salvage an unsuccessful product run before it comes to an end. Similarly, Blitz Days are great for giving your team the ability to capitalise on multiple time-sensitive opportunities very quickly.

They’re also great for quickly increasing activity surrounding your brand. Due to the incredibly geographically focused nature of Blitz Days it means that word of mouth can begin to circulate about your brand, an important aspect of sales that commonly gets overlooked due to it being difficult to manufacture but it should always be considered. According to a study conducted in 2014 by the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) word of mouth makes up 13% of global consumer sales, which represents $6 trillion in annual spending, so capitalising on it can be extremely lucrative.

Finally, if you’ve found that your team’s sense of sales discipline has declined as of late, Blitz Days can be a great excuse to reinforce your company’s sales policy whilst also raising team moral through incentives which encourage team members to observe proper sales etiquette. This is especially crucial with telesales as without the face to face interaction customers can lose a lot of the humanising aspects of the sales conversation, which will impact their likelihood to follow up on a purchase. SalesForce states 92% of all customer interactions happen over the phone, making it the most important channel that you’ll utilise as part of a sale. So, ensuring your partners and teams are following the best practice for sales calls is crucial to turning a profit.

What makes an ineffective Blitz Day?

When undertaking a Blitz Day there are two factors above all others that will make or break it: communication and planning. In the quick-fire commotion associated with Blitz Days it can be very easy to neglect the importance of keeping contact between management and the team. This can lead to disconnect, losing sight of objective, and confusion. As such we highly recommend members of management stay as involved as they can during Blitz Days without becoming overbearing. Not only will this alleviate any risk of the above, but it will also be much better for team moral. LinkedIn also found top performing sales professionals highly likely spend their time training with their managers, showing how valuable management involvement is. This disconnect can also be mitigated through proper planning. We’ll go into detail as to what needs laying down prior to the event in order to run a successful and productive Blitz Day.

Aside from these two main factors you should also consider the following:
• Poorly managed incentives – There’s a balance to be set when it comes to rewards. If they take priority over sales then your sales team may get distracted from the task at hand, however if they are not substantial enough to properly motivate your team then they’ll likely end up as a waste of resources.
• Lack of Prioritisation – This ties into proper planning but it’s worth mentioning on its own. Being aware of what tasks take priority over others is essential when it comes to such a time-sensitive event. Without a sense of urgency often tasks will get neglected and opportunities might pass you by.
• Focus – Time management is of course very important in sales, but it is never as important as when undertaking a Blitz Day. It’s important to ensure that your team remains focused throughout the day to make sure their time is spent optimally.
How to ensure that your Blitz Day is effective?
Planning is of the utmost importance when undertaking a Blitz Day. Here are a few things to consider as part of yours:
• Before you begin, be sure to properly consider your objective. Is what you’re undertaking achievable in a single day? Is it better suited for a longer form strategy?
• With so many pitches being made in a single day, it’s not uncommon for the customer experience to be neglected. Sales teams undertaking a Blitz should try to make each pitch as personal as possible, something we understand is challenging in B2C sales but in B2B we recommend researching everyone you plan on pitching to a few days before your blitz. According to a study performed by Zendesk in 2019, 84% of consumers cite good customer service as one of the key factors when buying from a brand.
• If you’re speaking to many customers in a short period of time, it’s important to try to share something memorable with each of your customers. Offer something insightful about your product so that your customers are more likely to trust you and your company than other alternate suppliers. In 2019 Salesforce found that 79% of consumers prefer interacting with salespeople who are trusted advisors that can add value to their business, not just sales representatives who are selling them products and services.

How to Properly Incentivise Your Team

Blitz Days should feel special, not just for your customers but for your team as well. You’ve got to make sure they know that today isn’t just another workday. The best way to accomplish this is through incentives.

The first and often most effective way to incentivise your team is with catering. We recommend providing a free lunch. Not only will it make the event memorable and give your team something to look forward to prior to your Blitz Day, but it’ll also give you an excuse to gather your whole team for a status update without having to disrupt the rest of the day.

Another great way to incentivise your team is the introduction of spot prizes. As the name suggests these are prizes that are offered on the spot, usually geared around encouraging competition in one form or another, for example offering an incentive to the next person in the team to make a sale. These are great for creating an atmosphere of spontaneity during your Blitz Day whilst maintaining team moral.

It's not uncommon to also hold in-office events as part of a Blitz Day. These can be anything from live entertainment to games, for example in a recent Blitz Day we held for one of our clients we included a cash grab game in which team members were given the opportunity to stand in a large box with a series of notes being blown around, allowing them to keep whatever their caught. As you might expect it was very well received. Managed improperly and said events might just distract from your goals but done well and they can become incredible incentives for you and your team, as well as making any future Blitz Days something your team will look forward to.

If you want to host a Blitz Day but are unsure where to start Inconnection can handle the management for you. We have decades of experience motivating and invigorating sales teams and can offer a wide variety of incentives and rewards. Speak to us now and we can help plan a Blitz Day for any product launch or seasonal offers.