I’ve always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with holiday weekends and here’s why;
On one hand, I love them because I get to spend much needed time with family and friends. Recharging is a wonderful thing, but;
I absolutely despise what a holiday weekend does to some people. “Some people” being sales reps as well as the decision makers they sell to particularly how some of them become lazy as f*ck!
You have decision makers who either want to revisit things AFTER the holiday. “After the holiday” being a week after the holiday concludes because who the hell wants to actually work right after a 3 day weekend?
Do you know why they do it?
Because they can, meaning, no one EVER respectfully challenges them or pushes back when they use the holiday to stall.
Case in point, I’ve had potential clients tell me a full week before a holiday that we should revisit in 2 weeks because of the holiday and all.
I usually respond with “Oh, are you going on vacation for the next 2 weeks? Where are you off to?”
When they confess that they aren’t off for the next two weeks, I then ask, respectfully, why they would want lose two weeks because of a 3 day weekend.
Many times I’m able to get things back on track and there are still instances where I can’t, but;
I’m tired of tapping out just because someone wants to milk 2 weeks out of a 3 day weekend!
But that ain’t all . . .
Holiday weekends do evil things to sales reps too!
How?
They spend most of the week leading into the holiday weekend doing “admin” work, updating Salesforce, etc., because “Contacts are hard to reach the week before a holiday”
They spend another day or two after the holiday justifying lack of outbound calling activity by clinging to the old “No one wants a call a day or two after a holiday”.
You can’t afford to do this!
If you do this every time a holiday hits, you’ll lose a ton of time over the course of the year!
Add up the time lost because of every 3 day weekend, fourth of July, Labor Day, Christmas, and New Years’, and you could easily be talking about 2 months that you can never get back again!
Here are a few ideas . . .
Make a decision! If you’re working those days leading up to and the days after, then work, If you need some additional time, then do it guilt free! No half measures!
Set demos up for the week leading up to, and the week after a holiday weekend and set them prior to the holiday time period. It’s a great way to utilize your time and you’ll feel awesome knowing that while the rest of the world milked a holiday;
You actually did something productive!
When it’s a week or even a few days prior to a holiday weekend, gently and respectfully challenge those who tell you to call back after the holiday weekend. If enough people do this, maybe they’ll begin to realize that what they’re doing is silly.
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