This article was updated on February 12, 2026 with an up-to-date FAQ section.
The Monkey’s influence on anyone doing Sales in 2016
It’s that time of the year again. Sales managers are hustling to close deals and reach their bonuses.
They check their hottest prospects. Ring them one after the other. And try to finish the year in style.
And then it’s a well deserved “Merry Christmas, and a happy New Year 2016!”
Make sure to refill your batteries, because an exciting year is coming:
The Chinese Year of the Monkey!
So what does that mean for business?
Each year in China, a new Zodiac takes the reign. We’re nearing the end of the year of the Goat, and will enter the year of the Fire Monkey on the 8th of February 2016.
The Chinese horoscope says that the characteristics and potential of the zodiac will influence you for the entire year, whether it be love, health – or business.
The SalesWings team brings you the know-how to succeed in the year of the monkey. Keep this in mind, and you will thrive:
1) The Monkey is thirsty for knowledge and highly adaptive.
This means the Monkey will facilitate your ability to acquire new skills. Make sure you focus on continuous education, whether it be reading sales blogs (like this one!) or taking an online course.
Secret tip: EMEA Practice Director of the Rain Group Ago Cluytens is launching a brand new “Sales Masterclass Series”. Consider enrolling here…or for a course at www.coursera.org
2) The Monkey is able to constantly develop new things, but risks losing focus.
When you develop new markets through sales or business development, make sure you zero in on the key opportunities, rather than knocking on too many doors.
Secret tip: Our simple Predictive Sales Analytics tool helps you do exactly that: focus on the low-hanging fruits by tracking and analyzing their interest on your website and notifying you on immediate opportunities.
3) The Monkey has trouble admitting mistakes.
You might face failure in 2016, here or there, important is what you learn from it.
If not, you’re probably not working hard enough. Make sure you admit failure to yourself, even when it’s something small, and spend enough time analyzing what led up to – for instance – a lost deal. If not, you risk making the same mistakes all over again.
Secret tip: There’s a good discussion going on about “How to Deal with Failure” on Jill Konrath’s blog post on “Here’s the Root Cause of Most Sales Failure”
4) The Monkey is very communicative!
Now this is good news for sales.
One of your key success skills will be supported by the energy of the Monkey! Use this support to boost the quantity and quality of your conversations. Nurturing customer relationships is essential to sales success.
Secret tip: Communication involves not only WHAT we say, but HOW we say it. Watch this TED Talk by sound consultant Julian Treasure on “How to speak so that people listen.”
5) The high energy of the Monkey means things start moving and quick decisions are required.
You got it, it’s a good year.
The influence of the monkey can help you tackle new opportunities and move forward. Yet it is recommended to balance persistence and the readiness to assume risk. Chinese horoscope experts also remind us that with so much movement, you will need to be prepared to find unconventional solutions.
Secret tip: Sleep on it. You’ll notice when you’re doubting. When things are moving too fast, it is not always good to make a decision on the spot. Important decisions may need an extra night of sleep or time to get feedback from your peers.
Whether or not you believe in the influence of Zodiacs on our lives or that we are being conditioned by our own Zodiac, we hope that you found a few good tips here.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Which sales prospecting tools should my SDR team prioritize?
- How can I use sales prospecting tools to track intent without losing focus?
- What email cadence mistakes do SDR managers make that I should avoid?
- How many touches should be in my cadence and over what time?
- What actually works in terms of drip campaigns?
- How should I adjust outreach during quarter-end sprints?
- How do I choose sales prospecting tools vs a sales engagement platform?
- Should our email cadences for inbound vs outbound?
Which sales prospecting tools should my SDR team prioritize?
Prioritize a lean stack that accelerates list building, intent detection, and multichannel outreach without creating workflow friction or data silos.
Start with a clean CRM foundation, add an intelligence layer for firmographics and buying signals, and pair a reliable dialer and email sequencer. Ensure integrations minimize tab-switching and that reporting is visible to managers in real time. Pilot tools with a small pod, compare conversion-to-meeting and time-to-first-touch, then standardize your playbook.
Tip: set quarterly “tool audits” to retire low-impact add-ons and keep reps focused.
How should I use sales prospecting tools to track intent without losing focus?
Adopt intent scoring that flags high-interest accounts and routes “act-now” tasks, so reps spend time where momentum already exists.
Use website behavior, content consumption, and recency to inform priorities, then notify SDRs when prospects cross a threshold. Keep dashboards simple: today-only alerts, hottest accounts, and reasons to call. This balances the Monkey-year drive for action with disciplined focus.
Tip: start with a curated list of high-fit accounts and layer intent to time outreach.
What email cadence mistakes do SDR managers make that I should avoid?
Avoid over-automation, slow first responses, and generic messaging that crowds prospects’ inboxes without offering concrete value or next steps.
Don’t let reps stack sequences that overlap; cap concurrent enrollments and enforce reply-stop rules. Watch deliverability; warm domains, verify lists, and refresh templates to reduce spam signals. You can coach reps to write concise, specific asks and to pause sequences when deals advance. In the Monkey’s high-energy year, speed matters, but judgment matters more.
Tip: coach from real pipeline scenarios and time-bound goals near quarter-end.
How many touches should be in my cadence and over what time?
A practical baseline is 8-12 touchpoints over 14-21 days, mixing email, calls, and social to match buyer availability and channel preferences.
Start with faster early touches (days 1-5), then taper to wider spacing to avoid fatigue. Use A/B tests on subject lines and call-to-action placement, and throttle sends for time zones. Track reply and bounce rates, and pause sequences instantly when prospects engage, convert, or clearly opt out.
Tip: document your standard operating cadence, then let reps personalize the first and last touches for relevance.
What actually works in terms of drip campaigns?
Use a lightweight automation tool to schedule educational drips, while routing engagement spikes to reps for timely, human follow-ups.
Keep drips short, value-led, and persona-specific; avoid long nurture arcs that delay direct conversations. Blend email with occasional social nudges and a call at key milestones. It’s a good idea to gate advanced content sparingly; your goal is to earn replies, not fill forms. Measure progression by replies and meetings booked, not opens alone.
Tip: write “fast-forward” emails that summarize prior messages so late readers can respond without scrolling.
How should I adjust outreach during quarter-end sprints?
Adjust: compress early touches slightly, increase call density, and prioritize high-intent accounts while protecting message quality and sender reputation.
Front-load value in the first two emails, then shift to phone and voicemail for speed. Use short break-up notes only after a meaningful attempt to deliver insight. By maintaining daily send limits and excluding dormant lists, you’ll keep deliverability clean. Align timing with decision cycles; finance and legal may slow responses near close.
Tip: create a “sprint” variant of your cadence and sunset it immediately after the push.
How do I choose sales prospecting tools vs a sales engagement platform?
Choose a sales engagement platform when you need shared cadences, unified reporting, and governance; pick point tools when flexibility and cost matter most.
Platforms centralize email, calling, and tasking, helping managers enforce playbooks and measure performance consistently. Point solutions can excel at a single function but may add overhead and fragmented analytics. Evaluate by integration depth with CRM, permissioning, ease of sequencing, and coachability features like snippet libraries.
Tip: run a 30-day pilot with identical lists to compare meetings booked per rep per week.
Should our email cadences differ for inbound vs outbound?
Yes; use shorter, faster cadences for inbound and more persistent, research-driven sequences for outbound prospects.
Inbound leads expect quick responses; trigger day-zero outreach within minutes and personalize to the page or offer they touched. Outbound prospects need relevance earned: reference a hypothesis of pain, add a proof point, and spread touches over a slightly longer window with more calls. Maintain clear opt-out paths and suppress contacts once they convert.
Tip: create separate reply-handling rules so inbound hand-offs are immediate and outbound learns from objections.
To a great year of the Monkey 2016!
