Maintaining the bow, to be prepared for battle

Sales is continuously evolving and the most successful salespeople are the ones that evolve with it. It’s not a secret that new techniques and methods can be learnt at any point and old ones can be refined; however, given the typical day to day role & responsibilities, we are often guilty of leaving any form of personal development on the back burner.

We all know that working in sales can become overwhelming. From prospecting, to client meetings, understanding the competition, team meetings, presentations not to mention attempting to carry out research into new areas quickly builds up and focus can be lost. So as the new year approaches, take the opportunity to pause and establish your sales goals – both personally and professionally for the coming year.

A number of years ago I completed a course named the 5 choices, by FranklinCovey – I highly recommend taking a look at this, I do my upmost to follow this on a regular basis, but here are my thoughts…

ACT ON THE IMPORTANT – don’t react to the urgent

Take time to break down tasks at the start of each week (or day depending on how you like to work) into the following sections:

1. Urgent and Important
2. Not urgent but IMPORTANT
3. Not Important but urgent
4. Not important or urgent

Simple but effective, throughout your week tasks should move around this list – anything that remains at the end of the week in the 4^th list – should you really be wasting your time on?

GO FOR EXTRAORDINARY – don’t settle for ordinary

Understand the ‘why’ – Why do your clients use your service, buy your product, trust your opinion?

Why did you win a particular piece of business, why was a piece of business lost?

What type of business are we looking for? What do we actually want or feel comfortable with?

The more you understand the “why”, the easier it will be to identify which eggs should be in your basket at any given time.

This doesn’t have to be a lone task it can form part of a new year strategy day for the whole team, and could be a process in and of itself, above all it will be eye opening and should align teams together on the same mission.

SCHEDULE THE BIG ROCKS – don’t sort gravel

Each week whilst you are planning your 4 lists (from tip number 1) – take everything from lists 1 & 2, these are your BIG ROCKS. These are the tasks that have to be done in a certain timeframe or are important and require focus. These should be planned into your week with care and everything else fits in around it.

Remember list number 4? This is your gravel. The gravel is made up of those tasks that we like to do, but they don’t have any real relevance to what we need to be doing. Ask yourself honestly if you should be wasting your time here.

RULE YOUR TECHNOLOGY – don’t let it rule you

The most common culprit is our email, the chances are you probably keep your email open 24/7, and then constantly flit between this and the task at hand. At first sight, you seem like you’re in control, however this is counterproductive, by limiting your email checks to just three times per day you stay focused and keep your mind organised.

You may have tasks throughout the day linked to email – client enquiries being a prime example. If like me, you understand that you don’t have to be in control of every enquiry that comes through – then don’t. As a proactive sales person, you have done your part by showcasing what your venue or business can offer, you should trust your reactive teams to respond appropriately and not need the instant validation of an enquiry passing though, you should be focusing on getting the next piece of business through the door.

We have email addresses set for each department and our teams will copy me in to responses so I can always see what is happening, then anything urgent they will simply pick up the phone and ask me a question.

In short- Turn emails into what they are; is it a task? An appointment, can a filter or rule be added to avoid email overwhelm? You can then continue doing what you do best – driving awareness of your business and looking for the next opportunity.

FUEL YOUR FIRE – don’t burn out

‘We can’t live on last months meal, just like we can’t draw strength from last year’s purpose. Constant energy comes from a pattern of constant renewal.’ Leigh Stevens.

Simply put, by implementing 5 energy drivers into your every day life, you will establish patterns of constant renewal. Move, eat, sleep, relax, connect – Read the following statements and rate them from 1-10 on how effective you are (1 being the lowest)

Move – I get up & move around regularly throughout the day. I have a consistent energy program that boosts my energy?

Eat – I eat in a way that provides sustained energy throughout the day. I have a pattern of eating nutritious food at every meal.

Sleep – I get at least 7 hours of sleep each night. I am satisfied with the quality of sleep I get each night.

Relax – I have an effective coping strategy to deal with stress. My lifestyle supports my ability to manage stress.

Connect – I take time to connect regularly with the important people in my life. I regularly connect with the purposes and values that make my life meaningful.

If you scored between 0-6 on any of the above statements, this is an area you should focus on and it should form part of your BIG ROCKS. This will form your ‘Fuel your Fire plan’ by nurturing yourself personally, you will add value to yourself professionally.