A third of the month’s orders arrive in the last three days

When demand spikes at the end of every sales period, the cause is rarely the customer. Both the discount and the overtime are self-inflicted.

By Steve 5 min read
Abstract bridge artwork for A third of the month’s orders arrive in the last three days

Plot every order the business took last year by the day of the month it was booked. In a large number of firms, the chart is not flat and it is not random. It slopes gently for three weeks and then rears up in the final few days. Quarter ends are worse than month ends, and the year end is worst of all. The instinctive reading is that customers buy that way. Occasionally they do: buyers with their own fiscal calendars really do release budget in the final weeks of…

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