5 Commercial Decisions That Can’t Wait Until September

For many industrial and technical companies, July and August feel like a natural pause. 

The spring conference season is behind us. Sales cycles that began in Q1 are either moving toward a decision or beginning to lose momentum. Calendars become a little quieter, and attention naturally shifts toward planning for the second half of the year. 

It's easy to think of summer as downtime. 

I've never seen it that way. 

Throughout my career—from S&P Global (formerly IHS) to growth-stage industrial companies—the organizations that consistently finished the year strong treated July and August as an opportunity to think. They stepped back from execution long enough to evaluate what the market was telling them, where opportunities were emerging, and whether the organization was aligned around the right commercial priorities. 

By September, the planning was largely complete. 

The focus shifted to execution. 

Here are five conversations I've found to be particularly valuable before Labour Day. 

1. Are We Pursuing The Right Opportunities?

By July, you've accumulated six months of market intelligence. 

Trade shows have wrapped up. Sales teams have spent months in front of customers. Marketing has tested messaging and campaigns. Product teams have gathered feedback from the market. 

The interesting question isn't how many opportunities exist. It's what those opportunities are telling you. 

Where are projects gaining momentum? 

Which customer segments have become more active than expected? 

Where have buying priorities shifted? 

Summer offers a natural opportunity to have a strategic conversation before the pace accelerates again. 

2. Is Our Value Proposition Evolving with the Market?

Markets rarely stand still. Customer expectations evolve. Competitive positioning changes. New technologies influence buying criteria. 

As a result, value propositions have a way of becoming less distinctive over time—not because they're wrong, but because the market has changed around them. 

Some of the most productive conversations I've participated in weren't about creating entirely new messaging. They were about listening carefully to what customers were asking and making thoughtful refinements. 

What questions are appearing more frequently? 

Which parts of the story continue to resonate? 

Where are buyers asking for greater clarity? 

Organizations that remain closely connected to their customers often make these adjustments continuously rather than waiting for a complete brand refresh. 

Summer provides the time to make those refinements before the busiest part of the selling season begins. 

3. Is Marketing Helping Sales Advance Opportunities?

The relationship between Sales and Marketing tends to evolve as organizations grow. 

Early on, marketing often focuses on visibility and lead generation. As businesses mature, the conversation shifts toward helping Sales move opportunities through the pipeline. 

One discussion I've always found worthwhile before the fall is remarkably simple: 

"What would make your next customer conversation stronger?" 

The answer rarely starts with more leads. 

It's usually about having the right customer story. 

An updated case study. 

Technical content that addresses common questions. 

Competitive positioning. 

Industry-specific messaging. 

When those conversations happen early enough, marketing has the opportunity to build resources that support revenue—not just awareness. 

4. What Has the Market Been Trying to Tell Us? 

One lesson I carried with me from years of attending industry conferences is that the greatest value rarely came from the badge scans. 

It came from the conversations. The questions customers asked repeatedly. The themes that surfaced across multiple meetings. The projects people quietly mentioned had been delayed—or unexpectedly accelerated. 

Those observations often revealed changes in the market. 

The challenge is that valuable insight has a way of becoming fragmented. Some of it lives in CRM notes. Some of it stays with the sales team. Some of it never makes it beyond a conversation over coffee with a customer. 

Deloitte's Global Marketing Trends research has consistently found that organizations achieving above-average growth are more likely to integrate customer insight into business strategy than organizations that treat it as simply another marketing input. 

Summer offers a valuable opportunity to bring those observations together and ask a simple question: 

"What is the market telling us that we didn't know six months ago?" 

And with a plethora of AI tools integrating mixed sources like, Teams meeting recordings, written notes, calls and more, has never been easier.

5. Does Our Marketing Model Reflect Where the Business Is Today? 

As organizations grow, expectations placed on marketing naturally expand. 

Sales looks for stronger enablement, leadership expects greater visibility and customers look for more technical depth. Product teams need commercialization support. Business development begins exploring new markets. 

What's interesting is that these expectations often evolve faster than the structure supporting them. 

Many mid-market companies reach a stage where marketing responsibilities have expanded significantly, while the operating model has changed very little. That doesn't necessarily suggest the need for a larger department. It does create an opportunity to think differently about capability. 

Increasingly, organizations are combining internal teams with specialized external expertise, allowing them to access strategic leadership, technical marketing, sales enablement, digital capabilities, and commercialization support without significantly expanding headcount. 

It's a conversation that often becomes much easier in July than it does during the pace of Q4. 

Looking Beyond Q3 

One pattern I've noticed over the years is that organizations use the summer in very different ways. 

Some view it as a chance to catch their breath before the fall. 

Others use it to compare notes, challenge assumptions, and prepare thoughtfully for what's ahead. 

Neither approach is inherently right or wrong. 

But by September, the difference is often visible. 

The organizations that enter the fall with a clear understanding of their markets, alignment between Sales and Marketing, and confidence in their commercial priorities tend to spend less time reacting and more time executing. 

One final thought. 

Some of the best ideas I've had over my career didn't come from sitting in another meeting—they came from taking a step back and creating space to think—a road trip or family vacation.  

But before everyone disappears for holidays, it's worth making time for a few important conversations because it can make all the difference once September arrives. 

Enjoy your summer.