Forget about yourself

I have had a lot of interesting comments about this blog and have had a lot of spam.  I don’t write every day because I have a job.  I have noticed that some bloggers want to make a living on line by selling stuff or getting traffic.  I just don’t get it.  I guess being an old school guy means I will miss that great opportunity or the brass ring that turns into gold. Spam comments are hard to keep out of a blog but I remember an old Chinese proverb.  ”The Oxen are slow but the ground is patient”.  I do use the technology that helps me be more productive like my Iphone.  Siri is helpful.

Where I am going with this lesson is that you cannot be a productive sales person if you spend your time online or doing things that will not help you be productive.  If you are going to be a professional sales representative you must do the work that any professional does.  I am talking about a career that means you have to do the work of a professional.  Waiting for someone to call you is not selling.  When someone calls you out of the blue it is a gift.  We call it the blue bird of happiness.  In our business sometimes lightning strikes one of our customers system and it has to be replaced.  We call that “pennies from Heaven”.  You cannot depend on on that as a living.

The first thing you have to do as a professional sales rep is to develop a professional call to action plan.  Here is a plan that I use on a weekly basis.  It is important to develop your plan to the point of a system that you can just forget about and do it with action.  It is what I call a double day action plan.  If you execute it properly it will work for you without having to think about it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I usually keep it on a clip board so I can jot down appointments and things to do.  Now with Siri on my Iphone I can tell her when I have an appointment.  I highly recommend using any kind of automation you need to help your productivity.  Remember that it is not always how hard you work that makes the difference.  Sometimes it is how smart you work.

My week starts out with prospecting calls.  This is the most important thing you do other than making a sale.  Prospecting keeps your belly with a full feeling.  Anytime I have anxiety about where my next sale is coming from is a trigger for me to do more prospecting.  I sell a high dollar item so my reward is great.

I also divide my day into two parts so I can make quick changes.  It is more important that a plan is one that actually works rather than a beautiful looking plan.

As always keep working on your plan and plan your action so that you can repeat the things that keep you on a successful journey.