Say thanks, now

We are on the cusp of the holiday seasons. Within the next ten weeks the stores will be packed with Halloween displays, followed closely by Christmas chaos. Our homes transform from bats and ghouls, to turkeys and leaves, to trees and lights.

As we enter the holiday season, cards arrive in the mail and we give thanks around the table. Bonus checks get cut and handshakes with the boss are in order. Company parties are both fun and an obligation.

But that whirlwind of holiday energy isn’t quite here yet. It’s late September, and the waters are still relatively calm.

And that makes this is the best time to say thanks.

Reach out to those that have helped you this year. Your top accounts. Fellow sales reps. Your managers that have your back. The drivers of the trucks that get your wine and spirits from point A to point B. Send a sincere thanks, which doesn’t have to be any longer than “Ahead of the chaos of the last quarter of the year, I just wanted to say thank you.”

A little goes a long way.

It’s not that saying thanks now means more than saying it later. It’s about saying it ahead of them hearing the same words from so many directions around them.