If you asked my sales manager, he would probably say NEVER!
Many of us know that only the strong (tough minded) will survive more than three years when it comes to selling copiers, printers, and managed print services. Those who survive more than 20 years of selling (not managing) to commercial accounts should be viewed as Olympians and those of us that have been selling 30 plus years should be viewed as Titans.
So, every year I struggle with when to take my vacation. Do I take the time in December right after Christmas, or maybe in August for the week before Labor day, or maybe the week that leads up to Easter? I’ve been fortunate to be at the same dealership for the past 15 years, thus I’ve been able to acquire some extra vacation time. But, when is the right time to take vacation when my sales won’t suffer? I’ve also considered taking a week during the first week of the new quarter.
But, is a vacation really a vacation when you still have to hit your monthly and quarterly sales quotas? My answer would be NO! It’s never a true vacation, because if it was a true vacation then my quota should be reduced for the month that I took a week’s vacation, right? If I’m not working for a week then why can’t my quota drop by 25 percent? After all, I’m not working!
If you ask your sales managers or VP’s of sales about reducing your quota most of them will stare at you for a few seconds and then give you some smart answer why your quota shouldn’t drop. The real answer is even though we get vacations in our industry we really never get much of the mental break that is needed from time to time. This is one of the reasons why there aren’t as many Olympians and Titans in the field or in the business anymore.
OK, I’ve had my rant. I try to take time during the last week of the year from Christmas through New Years. Thus, it’s a mad dash to try and get all of my business finished by the 22nd or 23rd of the month. The next time I try and book a vacation is the week before Labor Day because there’s too many people on vacation during the month of August and the week leading up to Labor Day that over the years this week has usually been a dud for sales. If you’re allowed to take two weeks in a row then I would suggest that you take the week of Christmas and the week after leading into New Years. Past experience has proved that taking two weeks at this time of the year can recharge your batteries.
One of my other thoughts is to take every Friday in the summer and turn the summer into a four- day work week. I haven’t done this yet because I’m afraid that losing four selling days each month for three months would create too much stress with trying to hit the monthly and quarterly quota. Hmm, if they would only reduce my quota when I’M NOT WORKING, this could be doable right?
When it comes right down to it, we really never get a vacation that we can never think about selling. Why? For most of us who have been doing this for so many years we just can’t turn the switch off. The switch is always on even when we’re away.
With vacation time I always come back to a saying I heard although I can’t remember from who and that’s that selling is not a horse race for who is the fastest to the finishing line, but it’s more like a turtle that keeps on going and going and never gives up.
Good selling!
