Planning
Plan Black Friday
/plan-black-friday
Plan Black Friday and the run to Christmas from the last two years' numbers. It tests your targets against what each of those two peaks achieved, then takes you through offer, products and marketing one question at a time.
Ask it
"Help me plan Black Friday" or "Are my November targets realistic?"
Claude /plan-black-friday - Last year's peak, read against its own baselineread
- Your November target, +23%: a stretch on the last two yearstarget test
- New customers would need to rise 15%lever gap
- Offer, products, marketing, targets: one at a timeagree the plan
- A target for every day of November and Decemberplan
Walkthrough
See Plan Black Friday run, start to finish
Open source
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What it does
It reads how each of the last two Black Fridays went against its own baseline, tests your November and December targets against the lift those years achieved, and shows what has to change if a target is a stretch.
Then it takes you through your offer, products, marketing and targets one question at a time, with a recommendation for each. Say "just write it" to accept them all.
When to use it
From September onwards, once you have this year's November and December targets, or want some. The earlier you run it, the more of the plan you can still act on.
Reach for something else when:
- Black Friday is over and you want to know how it went: /review-month on November.
What it needs
Nothing to start. It reads the last two peaks from what your Claude is connected to, and asks in one go for any exports it needs. If your budget holds November and December targets, it tests those; if not, it proposes targets from those years for you to confirm or change.
A Crux Growth Brain reads every part from one place, margin included, so the plan is built on your numbers as you define them.
How it works
- ReadLast year's and the year before's Black Friday, each read against its own baseline: offer, products, acquisition, retention and whether weekend customers came back.
- Target testEach November and December target is tested against the lift the last two years achieved over their baselines, and marked achievable, a stretch or unrealistic.
- Lever gapFor a stretch target, it shows how much new customers, returning orders or order value would have to move, with two or three ways to close the gap.
- Agree the planFour rounds of questions, one at a time: offer, products, marketing, targets. Each carries a recommendation; "yes" accepts it.
- PlanIt writes the agreed plan with a target for every day of each month, which you can download as a CSV.
What you get
One page for your team: the last two years' read across five short pages (overview, offer, marketing, retention and targets) and your plan on a sixth, with a target for every day of each month you agree, which you can download as a CSV. Nothing is changed in your budget or your data.
Signs it's working
- Every target carries a verdict, with the last two years' lift beside it.
- A stretch target comes with the lever that would have to move to hit it.
- Every action has a date before the window it lands in.
- The daily targets add up exactly to the month you agreed.
FAQs
I don't have a budget for November. Can I still use it?
Yes. It proposes targets from the last two years for you to confirm or change.
Do I have to answer every question?
No. Say "skip" to leave one open, or "just write it" to accept every remaining recommendation. But the questions are where the plan gets good: the more context you give, the better the plan.
How long does it take?
The read takes five to ten minutes. Allow another fifteen or so to work through the questions properly.
Does it change my budget?
No. The daily targets come as a CSV, ready for your spreadsheet or your budget.
Where it fits
Plan Black Friday is the first planning skill. It is not an exhaustive peak plan: use it to build the skeleton of one, or to test the plan you already have for risks and gaps. Once the peak is over, /review-month on November reads how the plan landed, and /diagnose-performance finds out why any target was missed.