Ask most people in the industry and they will tell you that if there was a lull in the industry, it is usually in February. No single reason why, as it’s a mixture.

February is quite obviously the shortest month, which makes targets a little harder to achieve. The energy from the start of the year seems to wander away as people start to grow tired of Winter and long for a rise in temperatures and sunshine. For a lot of people (including myself) the end of January is when many pay their tax bill. This then limits spending power for the next few weeks for a lot of people. Once February is over however, March seems to be the month where life springs back again and normal service is resumed.

So, what can be done to try and avoid a lethargic and frankly boring February?

We’re taking the time whilst it’s a little more quiet to revamp the reception and showroom. We’ve not done much to the reception layout and décor for a few years, so we thought it was a good time to get to work on making our reception exude an image of quality and detail. It’s mostly all small changes but they all add up. Things like painting the walls, getting a funky new sandblasted glass sign for the main reception, new stands for brochures etc. The time between leads is being used to put these things into action.

The other more obvious answer to avoiding a lull in February is being more proactive in the January period to carry you through February. I think this is something that has been easier to do due to such a strong start to the year. Lots of leads in mid to late January should mean that deals start to flow through during February. If you don’t sit many leads in January, you’ll find you’re probably in for a quiet February.

Despite this, I doubt many will actually be having a February lull. We achieved our January target before the end of January, and reached our February target by the 5th of that month. We’re also well on our way to smashing our March target well before the end of this month too. Apart from showing off a little about the good start we’ve had, the point here is that the usual February lull isn’t actually going to happen this year – probably.

February though I have found is a good month to do a bit of house keeping within the business. It just seems a good time of year to reflect on targets you are setting for the rest of the year, fine tune plans for growth and expansion, tweak the showroom and implement changes to help streamline the business. February really shouldn’t be seen as a lull month but a month to increase productivity.

Agree or disagree? Is February going to be a slow for you or are you finding that the normal industry cycle we were once used to is returning and February is going to prove to be yet another good month? All comments welcome in the section below.