Good morning!
What is up with you, Friday?
Back in the day, you are just as buttoned up and formal as the rest of us. Then, Levi’s came along with their Dockers and told us it was OK to be casual on the day before the weekend.
Sure, the rest of us were a bit jealous, but whatever. We were a team. We were a five-day work week.
But recently, something has changed. Perhaps it is the newly empowered, If-I-can’t-work-from-home-I-don’t-wanna-work-for-you crowd. Or maybe it’s the thinking that one does not need to adhere to our parents’ 9 to 5 mentality to do our jobs.
Fridays have become a day of significantly less incoming emails and calls. People are indignant when a meeting is set and your attendance is mandatory.
So, what do we make of all this? The salespeople who count on us to be present are confused and looking for guidance.
One option is to play along with it and throttle back. In this scenario, the rep had best be meeting quota — and the presses full — to even consider taking Friday off.
Another choice is the exact opposite. If the competition is sitting back on their heels, isn’t this the perfect time to make some calls?
A third option would be to focus heavily on outgoing sales activity Monday through Thursday and reserve Friday for office work, follow up, social media (read: LinkedIn posts), and any other actions that support making sales calls on those other days.
The only thing a rep can’t do is treat you, Friday, like any other day. You are not. You’re different now. And as much as we would like to go back in time, you’re not gonna change.
Friday, you never were known for your productivity. But now we need to make a decision on how best to use you.
