The message of this post is pretty simple: Managers and reps should never schedule vacations during the last business week of the month.

I’m sure some of you—most likely front-line sales reps—growled a little bit at hearing that.

On the surface it sounds harsh, right? Companies don’t control our lives; we should have the freedom to go on vacation when we wish, shouldn’t we? This is the United States of America, free country, and all that, right?

In principle yes.

In the real world of professional sales?

Not on your life.

The last two to three business days of the month are crucial for sales teams. Not because it’s necessarily “crucial” for the people doing the selling, but because in many cases, it’s crucial for potential buyers.

Whether it’s real or simply imagination, the end of a month pulls on buyers’ psychological strings.

Many budgets run on end-of-month or end-of-quarter schedules. Department productivity goals are clearly in focus, and decision-makers want to, well, make decisions.

When the calendar turns, we don’t want to leave old problems unfinished. Old problems are stale, dull, rehashed.

We want to “gear up” for the next month, tackle new problems and fresh ideas.

And like it or not, sales reps need to be around to take advantage of it.

Whether it sounds disingenuous, whether it feels like a “mercenary” tactic, there’s a reason that sales reps need to be in the office on the last day of the month, because C-Level decision-makers want to make decisions, and mid-level managers want to impress the C-levels.

The bottom line? The last week of the month, money is floating through the air, and deals are begging to be closed.

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