4th Quarter Gravy Time
At this time of year as we track the baseball playoffs (go Giants since my Dodgers are down and out) and college and pro football favorites (and Fantasy teams), we’re all in the midst of the Q4 finals sales push.
It’s time to reap what you’ve been sowing. The kids are back in school, the customers are back from vacation, the sales meetings are happening and the internal organizational kinks have been worked out (at least for the rest of the year). No more excuses. It’s “Gravy Time”.
As a college student I sold books door-to-door for 3 summers with The Southwestern Company of Nashville, Tennessee. It was the hardest yet best summer job I ever had. I learned a lot about hard work, selling, and motivating myself and others around me. We’d hit the first door at 8:00 in the morning and the last door at 9:30 at night, 6 days a week. The time between 6:00pm and 9:30pm was called Gravy Time because that’s when both husband and wife were home and could make decisions to buy. My biggest sales were during this time.
In any environment the salesperson with the right sales mentality loves this time of year. It’s an all out sprint. Whether at IBM or any organization where I managed a territory or sales force, or today when I coach and train organizations, the 4th Quarter is when it all comes together. Gotta love it – it’s Gravy Time!
