Many times all of us play the “what if” game. You know, “what if” I got a check in the mail for a million dollars? There is, “what if” I had finished college rather than going in the military? Or, “what if” had eaten more salads and lean meats over the past several years rather Big Macs and beer? Our sales and business career is much the same way. The fact is it’s really about discipline. The discipline to take the extra step to move from being “cream of the crap” to “cream of the crop”. It’s not really about working harder, it’s about taking a few more simple steps that can lead to far higher level of success.
Ok……let’s play for a minute.
What if …..you dedicated 15 minutes each day to reading a sales or business management blog each day?
What if….. you attended free sales or business management webinar each month?
What if….. you sent a short note of email to various co-workers or associates each week telling them that you appreciate their help or contribution towards your goal?
What if….. you took 10 minutes each day to look back over last year’s leads and contacted 1 of those leads each day and rekindled the relationship?
What if….. you converted your scribbled notes of sales leads and contacts into a data base such as a customer relationship management (CRM) software?
What if….. you followed up on 3 more sales leads or made 3 more contacts each day?
At the end of one year you will have read 250 educational and useful sources of information, seen 50 hours of sales and business development education presentations, created a positive and more productive relationship with your co-workers, resurrected countless dead leads, developed a highly organized and more productive contact database and potential generated 750 more sales. All this will create a significant increase in your success.
Not bad for about an hour a day. And where does this hour come from? Stop tweeting , facebooking, checking emails, looking at the online news every half hour. These task rarely pay off at the rate that the “what if’s” do. It’s not about spending more time. It’s about spending the same time more effectively. Remember back in the first paragraph, I mentioned discipline.
