Colleen’s Blog

There are two types of salespeople. Some salespeople slow down in the face of adversity, and others use the crisis to motivate themselves to push harder towards their goals. “Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.” I absolutely love that quote by Will Rogers. It’s a reminder that you must always be taking action if you want to reach success. You may have excellent product knowledge and exceptional communication skills, but if you’re not making use of your time, you will be “run over” by your competition. They will find a way to achieve better results even if they are considerably less talented than you. This philosophy is especially true in the sales world.

Summer is quickly approaching (some may claim that it has already arrived!). And, with the weather becoming increasingly pleasant, I can’t help but wonder how many professionals are simply going to sit back over the next few months and kick up their feet, both figuratively AND literally. You know as well as I that life is all about enjoying it. We work hard as sales professionals so that we can live a comfortable life. However, far too many sales professionals enter these summer months with an extremely nonchalant attitude. They decide because “no one else is working” that they too should stop making calls and meeting customers. Don’t fall into this trap. People are still working during the summer and quotas are still being met.

Successful salespeople have an unmatched drive to be successful. Chances are, if you are seeing any type of results or success, you have an incredible work ethic and have learned to move forward even in the face of rejection. However, can your motivation and drive ever become unhealthy or detrimental to your success? It is absolutely a fine line, and many salespeople aren’t able to tell which side of the line they’re on. All too often, I see salespeople who will try to force a sale on a prospect who doesn’t need their services. They simply aren’t prepared to walk away even if they aren’t a right fit for the client. They allow their desire to close the deal cloud their judgment.

We can discuss sales strategies, ideas, tips and methods to no end. However, at times even the best salesperson struggles to achieve results not because of a weak strategy, but because of little to no focus on their productivity. Let’s cut to the chase. The best way to achieve true productivity in your work day is to cut off all inbound access to you. Now, before your jaw drops too low, let me clarify that you should only do so temporarily, ideally an hour or two each day. Consider turning your phone to silent or completely turning it off, as well as logging out of your email inbox while you have important tasks to attend to. When you are focusing on your outbound business development prospecting, you should not have to deal with distracting, time consuming tasks which take the focus out of your work day. Want a perfect example of how this simple tweak in productivity can benefit you?