The wine sales cycle on the wholesale end is pretty predictable. See accounts Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Then maybe have a sales meeting on Friday, run some will calls (that are always disruptive and problematic), and do an in-store tasting that night. Week after week. Month after month.

You know who your accounts are that are disorganized. You know who calls you consistently and needs emergency wine will called on Friday. You know which of your accounts are predictably unpredictable.

Get ahead of them on Thursdays. Call them in the early afternoon to help you buy time on Friday. Solve the problem before it becomes a problem. “How is your Pinot Noir by the glass stock? There’s rain in the forecast for the next few days, might be a busy weekend …”

Compressing time frames is all about being in control of your own schedule and getting ahead of problems.

Think about this: There are some wholesalers that carry zero inventory in their own state. Instead they cross-dock via shipments from elsewhere (a customer orders wine on Tuesday, it’s delivered 500 miles overnight, put on a different truck in the morning, and gets dropped off on Wednesday … very Amazon-like). Those reps have no choice on Friday … no options for emergency will calls.

What do they do? They train their customers.

And Thursdays are a great day to do that.