This week’s Monday challenge is aimed at wholesale sales reps.

One week from today it’s August. That means we’re in the deep part of summer when beer sales are the focus for most retailers, and major wine list changes are low on the priority list for most restaurants.

So what to do this week? Aim for the bottom of your list.

The strange little accounts that rarely see you. Accounts that don’t yet buy from you. The bottom 25% of your territory. In terms of effective selling and using your time correctly these accounts don’t hold much water. But it’s still important to maintain presence and the best part about accounts like this is that one good drop of five or ten cases might double their projected sales for the year.

Make a sell sheet you can use for all. Most popular wines, bargain wines, low quantity deals with your delivery prices clearly stated (goal: have them buy three or five cases instead of just one). Reach out, say hi, stop by, taste through a sample or two.

The goal is to ramp up a little bit of business with maybe five or ten of these accounts before the end of the week. Time spent doing this now is more effective than trying to jam it into a busy September afternoon.

(Word of warning: low level retailers sometimes force the hand of the sales rep to give some free labor. “I’ll buy that if you come by on a Friday night to pour samples for the public” or “You better be here to meet the truck and put it away.” If this relatively tiny sale of wine hinges of such things, kindly refuse the sale. Don’t sell your soul to little insignificant devils.)