Black Friday Leadership Lessons

Black Friday saw global spending of $74.4B US Dollars, up 5% on last year. It’s big money.

But to warp your perspective, Elon Musk’s net worth increased by the same amount (~$70B) the week before — after Trump’s election win. And two weeks earlier, China’s shopping day (11.11.) saw 2.5x higher spend at almost $200B.

Fresh perspectives on sales aside, brands overwhelmingly see Black Friday as mandatory, rather than opt-in. And my bloated inbox has felt the shift.

It’s not easy for retailers. A single day where more companies than ever are bombarding consumers? It takes some planning to stand out and maintain a competitive edge.

There’s a lot we can learn from all that effort and preparation. And it’s not just applicable to sales, but to business building, people management and communication.

Set the Tone

The best black Friday promotions set the tone just right. They benchmark their discounts against what’s “normal” for the category and pitch their communication depending on whether they’ve gone big or played it safe, managing expectations.

They recognise that pleasantly surprised customers: “wow, the deal is better than expected!” are more valuable than disgruntled customers: “all those hype emails for just 10% off?”

This doesn’t just apply to promotions, but to everyday leadership.

Underpromise, overdeliver 

Don’t lay your 110% on the line, lay down 80% upfront and give 110% later, adding extra oomph where it matters most.

Bring empathy to critical communications

Know it’s going to be a bad year for bonuses? Your team should know that too. Springing a “sorry no bonus” on someone only encourages them to spring a “sorry I’m leaving” on you when you least expect it. Setting the tone sooner than later builds trust.

Share a plan

There are black Friday deals people wait and plan for, and there’s no harm in telling them exactly when they’ll find out. The same goes for major and minor change. Whatever people are looking forward to end-of-year (parties, bonuses), telling people it’s happening only shows a moderate degree of commitment. Instead, show people it’s happening by fixing a date, time and place for people to work towards.

Get a Head-Start

Deals started trickling in earlier for Black Friday this year, with sales creeping up as much as 28% one week prior.

We all grew up learning to play by the rules, getting disqualified from races because we leapt off the start line before the whistle blew.

But in the real world, hang around until the official start time and you miss the boat.

That said, it’s no a silver bullet: start too early and the customer is not in the right headspace: “how is it that time of year already?”

Timing is a risk, and those who get it right reap the rewards.

There are lessons for our everyday work hidden in here:

Start projects before the start gun

See a potential crunch period ahead? Get started before the ink is dry on the contract. If it will save you stress down the line, and it’s worth the risk of taking on a little (potentially unnecessary) work.

Timing is everything

In a week where every competitor is a running the same or better discount deals, timing matters more than ever. Yet it matters just as much in everyday contexts. When to update everyone on the latest project developments? When to launch a new product? Your best shot at getting timing right is to put yourself in the shoes of the customer or recipient. When would they want to be made aware of this information?

Often we treat news (good or bad) like a hot potato, passing it on as soon as we have it. The best leaders save it for when it will land with most impact.

Prepare Early

All companies that started Black Friday deals early did so as a result of careful planning. Several on-the-day discounters may have scrambled: “all our competitors have done something, let’s do a 15% off for good measure.”

Early preparation counts for more than we think. It helps us communicate more clearly, allows us to take a more considered approach and to revise our initial hypotheses.

It’s possible to pull something off last-minute, but the better speeches, presentations and projects will always have several days of thought and rounds of revisions behind them. A sad reality for those of us who love an adrenaline-fuelled last-minute rush!

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Keep it Simple

There’s a temptation on Black Friday to stand out by doing something unique and different: “spin the wheel to unlock your discount! (Please register an account first).”

“Buy three of these (not these) to unlock an extra 20%.” It’s easy to forget that this is at least the twentieth deal the customer has been offered that day.

If it’s too complicated to be clear and too convoluted to be benchmarked against competitor deals, it’s a lost sale.

What can this discount fatigue teach us every day?

Communicate clearly

Most Black Friday emails only deliver good news. But clear communication of good news is something most of us are lazy about.

Reluctant to give compliments, we shuffle our feet and mince our words, letting the impact of the point get lost in a sea of “umms” and “errs”. Whether we write it down and read it straight or take courage and look the person squarely in the eye, saying it in simple terms, clear communication packs a punch.

Make it comparable

Compensation trends fluctuate between simple (base + bonus) and convoluted, buried under a myriad of benefits that the company hopes you forget to redeem. This makes it impossible to compare with competitors, but also impossible to truly understand the value you’re receiving. Whether it’s compensation, a project proposal or a strategy, it shouldn’t be so complicated that it has to be viewed in a vacuum.

Repeat the key message

I recently wrote about how hot and cold states cloud decision-making. If we’re in a cold, rational state, we assume others will be too, and will hear our message loud and clear.

Especially if we’re saying something important, our listener likely switches to a hot state upon hearing the information and hears the message as clearly as a crackling radio signal.

What seems repetitive to you may be important information they missed first time around.

The approaches brands use to get ahead on Black Friday are universal ways to move forward at work. What would change if, the next time we had something to share with our teams, or were starting a new piece of work, we set the tone, got ahead and kept it simple?

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