A lot of us are sweating because the ad tech selling season for 2026 is wrapping up. This month. Yes, the calendar says there are five months left in the year, but it's almost a wrap for the tech sales cycle. Any deal that has not entered legal review by August will miss your 2026 comp plan.
Why?
Clients do not rip out infrastructure in Q4. They will not risk their holiday revenue on a migration or new workflow. Would you?
So, they punt.
The sales motions continue, though! The meetings and pipeline reviews still happen. Once September hits, every serious ad tech sales org should be building for 2027.
What's the thing media sellers never understand about our side of the business?
Media sales run on the "Rule of 78." If you sign a deal in January, it pays you twelve times through December. Sign it in June and it only pays you 6 times through December.
Ad tech infrastructure sales compress into something closer to eight effective months. Hence, I call it the "Rule of 68," and I wrote an entire management system around it. 👇🏻
Travis Lusk
The short version: your selling year ends at Labor Day. Plan accordingly.
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