Comparing apples to success and buying back time
An apple a day keeps the doctor away. If that were true, everyone would eat an apple a day, right? Wrong. Some people would put it off then try to make up for it by eating two the next day. Does that mean you can eat seven apples on Sunday night and still keep the doctor away? Of course not, that's not how it works. To keep the doctor away, you must eat one each day. Simple.
In sales it's the same. A sales follow-up a day keeps the sales manager away. But salespeople often wait until Sunday night to cram seven apples. Some wait until the last day of the month to eat 30. Instead of doing small daily success stuff like database updating, sales-call planning, follow-up letter writing, and even order submission they put it off even though it would help them succeed. Duh. I don't get it.
My friend Theo Androus, a seminar promoter and giver, as well as the best student of personal development I know, is an expert at the obvious, as reflected by his seminar stage name Dr. Duh.
"I was promoting a seminar for Brian Tracy on advanced selling strategies. The program was scheduled for the last day of the month," Theo said. "Any guesses as to the objection I heard the most? O.K., objection is a nice word, let's call it what it really was: the excuse I heard most? 'But Theo, that's the last day of the month, we all have quotas to meet. The last day of the month is the busiest day around here.' Oh really? Did it ever occur to you to get your quota met by say the 20th of the month? Duh."
Raise your hand if you procrastinate. Those of you who didn't raise your hands are just putting it off until later. We all procrastinate. Salespeople are experts at this. (This article was due three days ago.) Quick self-test: If you've ever rationalized with "I'll do it tomorrow," then you procrastinate.
"But Jeffrey, I do my best work at the last minute," you say. Oh really? Cramming at the end never works. Remember college? The kid who studied every day (the one you hated) got way better grades. He just ate an apple a day.
Speeding up at the end to make up for lost time never works ask any rabbit.
The challenge for salespeople is to become do-it-today-and-every-day professionals. Theo has six things that, if done on a daily basis, will propel you above and beyond your goals:
Prospecting
Networking
Follow-up calls
Thank-you notes
Exercise
Self-improvement
Grand Master Jhoon Rhee, the legendary 65-year-old father of American Tae Kwon Do who trained with Bruce Lee, still does 1,000 push-ups per day. He says that there should be no time elapsed between the moment you have a thought and the moment you take action. Thoughts must be translated into action or they are worthless.
Androus paints this picture: You have lunch with your best client. When you get in your car to leave you take a moment and write a note by hand, referencing the lunch and the things discussed. On the way back to the office you drop the note in the mail. Wow. Simple. Easy to do. Easy not to do. Do you do it? Does it make a difference? Do it for a month and then decide.
We know what to do as sales professionals, we just don't always do what we know. When you develop a do-it-now attitude you can get done in minutes what used to take hours or never got done. You actually "buy back" your own time. Wow!
Now, what will you do with this new extra time? That's up to you. If you took a moment to evaluate how you spend your time right now, it would make you sick. Squandered opportunity and wasted energy account for the majority of a salesperson's day. (Except for you, of course.) The time actually spent in front of the customer, or on activity that supports the sale, is minimal.
Add it up. If you waste two hours a workday, that equals 10 hours a workweek, and 500 hours per 50-week year. That's more than 20 full 24-hour days. Yikes. And that may be an understatement. That's 50 10-hour work days or 10 weeks of vacation. Wouldn't you rather take that time off all at once? Imagine, work hard for 40 weeks and then take 10 off. Would you sign up for that plan? Duh.
FREE GitBit ... What could you do today, this instant, which would make a difference in your bottom-line productivity? For a copy of "Dr. Duh's Daily Do-it-Now" just go to www.gitomer.com, click "free stuff" then "GitBit." Register and enter the secret word, "Dr. Duh." We'll get it to you when we get around to it er, I mean right away, yeah that's it, right away. Until then, do something you've been putting off.
Do it now. You'll be glad you did. Of course you already knew that, that's why it's in the big duh file.
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of "The Sales Bible," and "Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless." President of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts training programs on selling and customer service. Inquiries should be e-mailed to salesman@gitomer.com or faxed to the WBJ at (48-22) 646-0576.
