It’s the day after Labor Day in the United States. For many, the end of summer and the start of a school year.

More importantly for us, it’s the start of SOND.

The run of September-October-November-December is pretty incredible in our industry. On average well more than one half of restaurant and retail wine business is done in this one third of the year. The compression is pretty staggering.

As a wine sales rep, this is not a week to take off. This is not a week to treat as a normal week.

Contact every account.

Have a plan for every account.

Tap into what you built for the previous eight months and get that engine rolling to full efficiency.

Plan out your time and days carefully.

Know exactly where and when you are expending your time and resources (i.e. in store tastings, staff tastings, sales meetings).

And remember most of all that more is not better. More is simply more. Putting more time and energy into your work does not make it more justified or valuable. It simply means you traded a slice of your personal time for work time. Instead focus on quality, focus on efficiency, and focus on building something remarkable.

Go! Welcome to SOND 2017!