The January Effect: Why the Best Sales Leaders Start the New Year in October

As commercial landscapers head into budgeting season, sales teams are racing to close renewals, forecast growth, and plan for spring.

Most treat Q4 as a wrap-up period — final invoices, renewals, and a few last-minute enhancements.
But the best-performing companies see October differently: it’s not the end of the year, it’s the start of the next one.

The groundwork for next spring’s revenue, renewals, and growth happens right now, while the data is fresh and the team’s rhythm is still strong.

If you wait until January to plan, you’re already behind.

The Rhythm of Commercial Landscaping Sales

Sales in commercial landscaping follow the seasons — proposal volume ebbs and flows with production schedules and weather. That makes forecasting tricky.

Too often, leaders go into the new year with a number that’s based on last year’s revenue, not on current sales performance.

Smart companies use the fall to reset their rhythm. October through December becomes their reflection and reset season — the time to look at the data, coach their teams, and align next year’s goals before winter downtime hits.

Because in high-performing organizations, the best quarter for sales planning isn’t Q1 — it’s Q4.

According to NALP’s 2023 industry statistics, the typical landscaping company grew revenue by 15.7% last year. The companies driving that kind of growth aren’t waiting for January — they’re using fall to refine sales goals, renew client relationships, and forecast more confidently for next season.

The Metrics That Predict Sales Success

Checking final results alone is like looking at the scoreboard after the game is over. To make sales performance predictable, you need to pair lagging indicators (the numbers you hit) with leading ones (the behaviors that get you there).

For commercial landscapers, that means watching:

• Proposal Volume → Is enough new work feeding the pipeline?

• Win Rate → Are those proposals converting into booked revenue?

• % to Goal → Is each Account Manager pacing to hit their target?

• Time to Close → Are deals dragging longer than they should?

Look at the full 12 months of data, not just the recent six. You’ll spot seasonal trends — for example, enhancement sales peaking in summer or renewals clustering in winter.

That’s not just forecasting gold; it’s a coaching opportunity.
If winter enhancements were slow last year, set a goal to increase them and use the leaderboard to track weekly progress. It’s how sales becomes proactive, not reactive.

Learn more about the metrics that drive predictable sales growth and how to track them effectively.

Coaching Before the Snow Falls

By the time spring hits, it’s too late to train or course-correct — production is running full speed.

This is the time to turn data into dialogue.
Use leaderboard insights for short, focused one-on-ones in October and November:

• Review each AM’s proposal mix.

• Compare their win rate to peers.

• Identify which accounts lean heavily on renewals vs. enhancements.

The key is visibility. With live data, coaching becomes more targeted — and much faster.

Sales tactic tie-in: Borrow from top-performing B2B teams: run short-cycle coaching based on what’s actually happening, not what happened last quarter.

Set Goals That Reflect Reality

The old approach: “Add 10% to last year’s number.”
The better approach: Build goals from the ground up — proposal capacity, win rate, and deal size by rep.

Commercial landscaping isn’t one-size-fits-all. Some branches drive growth through enhancements, others through recurring maintenance or renewals. Your goals should reflect those dynamics.

BomData’s Sales Leaderboard helps you forecast how each AM contributes to next year’s total, giving branch managers and executives confidence that goals are grounded in reality.

Make It Visible, Make It Stick

Most companies already hold a weekly sales check-in — but it’s often just a spreadsheet or an Aspire export with top-line numbers.

That approach tracks activity, not accountability.

With BomData, the leaderboard automates that view — making pacing, proposal volume, and win rates visible to everyone, every day. No manual exports. No waiting for Friday.

That’s what transforms sales meetings from reporting sessions into strategy sessions.

Real-world shift:

“We used to spend our weekly sales meetings reviewing static numbers. Now the data’s live, visible, and connected — so we focus on what to do next, not what already happened.”

The January Effect in Action

The best leaders don’t wait for January to start fresh — they enter it already in motion.

With visibility into performance patterns and leading indicators, BomData helps commercial landscapers turn October insights into next year’s confidence.

Plan early. Coach smarter. Sell predictably.

👉 Want to see how the Sales Leaderboard works? Book a demo or let’s connect at Elevate in November.