The end of summer is approaching. The kids are back to school, and it will be the official start of your business’s 4th quarter. As you sip on your pumpkin spice latte, ask yourself this question:

What’s your plan to finish the year strong?

If you don’t have an immediate answer, then use the four tactics below to get organized, focused and committed to having your best end of year that you’ve ever had!

1) Be crystal clear on your financial goals.

What is your revenue goal for October? November? Exactly how much money are you going to earn by December 31st of this year?  If you can’t answer that with absolute clarity, then this is your No. 1 priority.

Knowing exactly how much you’re going to earn acts like a magnet that attracts clients, opportunities and business your way.  Having this exact number also motivates you to take action and continue taking action throughout the quarter.

Take some time today to identify these numbers and then write them down on a card and keep it with you at all times.  Post it at your desk, on your bathroom mirror, in your car, anywhere that you will be sure to see in several times a day.  Remember that you will create more of whatever you focus on.

2) Call your best clients first.

Your greatest lead generator is your current list of clients. I’m not just talking about selling them new offers, but tapping into them for new client referrals. They will be your best referral source by far.

Make a target list of these clients and begin calling them this week.  Once again, identify a number you expect to generate from these clients. Maybe the goal is to sign 5 new clients or sell 20 new seats to your e-course. What’s the goal? Do you have it? Okay, now, I want you to add 10% to it. The idea is to REACH for it.

3) Call the low hanging fruit next

Identify your most valuable leads next and make attempts to reach them by mid-month.  These leads should include people that have shown interest in working with you in the past.  They are your “warm” leads.

Maybe you had a discovery call and the timing just wasn’t right for them. Or they could be someone that has downloaded an eBook or other lead magnet. I recently contacted someone that I had conversed with in the past. The timing wasn’t right for when last spoke. It had been a few months so I decided to check in. Her first response was, “I was just thinking about you!”. Turns out she was ready to take the next step and my timing was perfect.

If you are a health coach that works with busy moms, now is the PERFECT time to reach out. The kids are back in school and moms are ready to focus on themselves again. If you are a social media strategist, focus on how busy the holiday season can get and how hiring someone to manage social media will reduce stress for them and allow them to keep focus on their business while enjoying their personal life.

Prioritizing your leads in this way will make sure that you spend your time wisely early in the season, focusing on those leads that will give you the best return for your effort.   

The bottom line is to increase your visibility and engage!

4) Start visualizing how it feels now that you’ve accomplished your revenue goal.

A great motivator and mindset exercise is to visualize and start acting like you have already achieved your goal. Pretend “as if.” It’s like the exercise of feeling happy–you smile for a minute in the mirror and you just naturally start feeling happy. So, act “as if” you have surpassed your revenue projections.

Visualize that it’s the holiday season. Ask yourself:

• What does it feel like to have accomplished your goals?
• What are things are you now enjoying as a result of your efforts?
• How is your family feeling now that you’ve made your goal? 
• How confident, positive and happy are you?

These are the feelings you should identify now and begin affirming every night before you go to sleep and every morning immediately after you wake up.   Again, you will become what you think about all day long.

These are the four keys to having a great 4th quarter.  I’ve organized my business to be in alignment with them, and I can already feel how good it is to have accomplished them.  It’s a great state to be in and I encourage you to get in alignment with these keys, too.

If you need some help in crushing your 4th quarter goals and starting your 2017 strong, sign up for the FREE Business Breakthrough Mini-Course. The course starts September 12th. You will receive daily emails and videos guiding you through creating your own 4th quarter growth strategy.