Sales 2026: If activity slows down in the summer, should your strategy do the same?
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
In August, everyone knows... agendas empty out, decision-making slows down and some business meetings are postponed until September.
In many B2B companies, this phenomenon is perfectly predictable. HubSpot even points out in a June 2026 publication that the summer slowdown can be anticipated and used to prepare the back-to-school pipeline.
However, a slowdown in signings does not mean a halt to commercial activity.
For an SME or an ETI, summer can instead offer what is often lacking during the rest of the year: time to look at the pipeline with more perspective, to question certain priorities and to prepare for September before the urgency takes over again.
Take advantage of the summer to look at the pipeline differently
Every Sales Department is familiar with this phenomenon... By constantly adding new opportunities, the pipeline often ends up giving a more optimistic than realistic view of the business.
Some leads remain open for several months... Some proposals have little chance of success but continue to appear in forecasts... Next steps are no longer specified... Salespeople are still hoping for a response from a contact who hasn't replied in weeks...
So, summer can also be THE perfect time to sort things out and review each opportunity objectively, without the daily stress:
Is there still a real project in place?
Has a decision-maker been identified?
Is a further action planned?
Is the announced timetable still credible?
Does the opportunity always justify the time the team invests?
Bpifrance specifically recommends managing the sales action plan through indicators and a CRM that allows actions to be adjusted throughout the year.
A shorter but properly qualified pipeline often provides a much more useful view of the return to work than a succession of older opportunities held "just in case"...
Also look at customers you already know
Sales performance is still too often reduced to acquisition. Yet, summer is also an ideal time to analyze your existing portfolio.
Which clients are strategic? Which ones have reduced their orders since the beginning of the year? Where is there still potential for growth? Which accounts rely on a business relationship that has become too fragile? Which clients buy several products or services while others only use a small part of them?
This work allows you to start the last quarter of the year with a much more operational segmentation.
France Num also recommends integrating customer and prospect segmentation from the outset of the prospecting plan in order to adapt sales actions to different target groups.
In a SME, a few accounts can represent a (too) large share of revenue. Knowing them thoroughly before the business recovery is therefore often more useful than immediately adding hundreds of new contacts to a database.
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Prepare for September before September begins
The problem with going back to school is well known: everything comes back at the same time...
Postponed appointments, trade shows, campaigns, last quarter objectives, negotiations suspended before the summer and new management priorities fill the agendas in just a few days.
Preparing for September in August allows you to resume activity with a roadmap that has already been decided.
Which prospects should be contacted as a priority?
Which proposals need to be revived?
Which strategic accounts warrant a meeting with management?
Which opportunities should be abandoned?
What sales targets are still realistically achievable by December?
Preparation can also involve the arguments presented.
Are the objections since January still the same? Is one offer performing better than another? Are certain competitors coming up more frequently in discussions? Is the market positioning still sufficiently differentiating?
These questions are rarely complicated. However, their resolution is too often postponed because day-to-day business operations always take precedence.
Putting CRM back at the service of salespeople
There is also a project that is particularly suited to quieter periods: the quality of commercial data.
A CRM cluttered with duplicates, obsolete contacts and poorly defined opportunities ultimately limits the quality of management.
Before multiplying tools or automations, it is better to verify that the essential information is actually up to date: decision-maker, history of exchanges, next steps, potential amount, reasonable probability of conclusion.
By 2026, the tools will allow us to go much further. France Num emphasizes that artificial intelligence can help SMEs qualify and score their prospects in order to focus sales efforts on the contacts with the highest potential.
But the effectiveness of these tools always depends on the quality of the information available. Summer can therefore be used to get things in order before accelerating.
Give salespeople a real priority for the start in September
Preparing for September does not mean filling out a list of twenty additional tasks.
The challenge lies more in determining where the sales team should focus its energy.
Three or four clearly defined priorities may suffice: reactivating certain accounts, developing a specific offer, securing the most advanced opportunities, or winning back a segment that is losing momentum...
This clarification is all the more important when the results for the first half of the year fall short of the annual targets.
In such cases, it might be tempting to call for more prospecting, more appointments and more reporting.
However, a more in-depth analysis may reveal a completely different problem: poor segmentation, a weakened value proposition, an unbalanced portfolio, a lack of sales management, or an insufficiently qualified pipeline...
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Turning a quieter summer into a business advantage
Not all businesses experience a slowdown in August, of course. Depending on the market, seasonality can vary greatly. Many B2C companies, in particular, are already preparing for Christmas promotions...
But this period of "calm" offers you an interesting opportunity to review your short-term management in order to consolidate and facilitate medium-term results.
Cleaning up the pipeline, reviewing key accounts, improving business data, reviewing priorities and preparing actions for the fall, allows us to start again with a much clearer and more motivating vision.
And if this exercise ultimately reveals a commercial organization that lacks structure, management or leadership, waiting until September will not solve the problem.
An Interim Sales Manager can in this case intervene quickly to analyze the existing situation, reassess priorities, structure management and support teams in execution.
Do you want to take advantage of the back-to-school season to give your sales organization a boost?
TOPS Ressources mobilizes experienced Sales Directors to support SMEs and mid-sized companies in their phases of structuring, transformation or commercial acceleration.
Let's talk about your challenges!
Sources:
TOPS Ressources, Interim Management in Executive Committee roles: CEO, CFO, HR Director, Supply Chain Manager, Transformation Director, Sales Director...
