All at once, it seems in a matter of just a few days, we are solidly back in the rhythm of everything. 

• Summer's gone with only memories of superb weatha' on the NH beach
• Beginning fall leaves are showing everywhere in my VT woodlot
• One Tufts marketing class done this week; first business class at MIT next Monday
• A strong upswell in business in all of our customers even given the uncertainties 

...and traffic! Yikes, what the heck happened? 

NH to Boston normally takes me 90 minutes, and currently it's two plus hours anytime and longer if I leave at 7. I called one of my favorite CEOs, John Regan, from the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, since given his large cross section of members, he always seems to have his finger on the pulse of everything.  His answer of people still not being comfortable with mass transit coupled with the never-ending T problems and more companies pushing to have people back in the office seemed to make sense.  It is what it is, even considering drivers seem to be just a bit more wired than usual which I found out the hard way when a truck totaled my new Audi two weeks ago.  I'm fine-nothing other than the amazement of the fact that everything changed in less than three seconds.  

Bottom line: we're back in the flow & ebb of the rhythm of everything.

• Schools have 13-14 weeks of classes with all the normal interruptions 
• As salespeople, at best, we have 75 to 80 selling days left in the year
• As managers, we're just about to jump into our 2023 strategic planning routines

And during all of this, we have lives to live, personal crises to deal with and occasions and successes to be celebrated, which brings me to a seemingly simple recommendation, which will only take an hour of your time this weekend. 

Take a quiet break for an hour to mark up your calendar for these four months:

• Define the critical "must-do" objectives and put completion dates down into writing. 
• Back those up with start dates, waypoints and guideposts that need to be checked off.
• Take a hard look at those 75 selling days and now block out expected trips and meetings
• Figure out how to just get rid of the time waster accounts and people who take but don't give.

Sounds too simple when one reads a string of four bullets in a Friday blog, but it really is when one takes time out in advance and views time from the perspective of 75 work and selling days before the end of the year.

Have a great weekend. 

I'm off tomorrow to negotiate a new car in a world of no supply and parts shortages.  Should be interesting!

At any time, if you want to discuss your own sales planning for the rest of this year, just connect with me for some quick ideas and feedback. There's no cost to a call or two, plus I love listening and talking about this new rapidly changing world of sales and marketing.  It's nothing like the old days of 2020!

In the meantime, take a look at our 2022 edition of "Writing the 2022 Winning Sales Plan" which I guarantee you will result in at least a few nuggets that will lead to increased revenue in 60 days!

www.derbymanagement.com  
Derby Entrepreneurship Center@Tufts.