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Goals
June is…the beginning of a new season.
It’s summer…and summer traffic is often unpredictable, and customers/clients can be distracted by vacation plans and being away from home.
You might have vacation plans scheduled, too…which means you need to make goal in LESS time.
What? Yes.
And as we discussed in an earlier post, it’s about the strategy…what is the number you have to hit? How many sales do you have to make at what average sale? And what actions are needed to achieve those sales?
You do this by taking the actions that incr…
The Third PR Word
This is the third of a series of four blogs. What did you get from the last blog learning about the PRiorities that your client/customer is trying to satisfy? Our next P R word is….
PRocess
- Where are they in their decision-making process….and how are you going to find out?
- Are they expecting or able to decide today…or will another meeting be necessary to complete this process?
- What do they already know or are using as a measure of comparison?
- How will you ‘forward the sale’ and move …
Procrastination
As well as we can plan our time and be vigilant in protecting our time from being unnecessarily taken up by others, there is still a sneaky little gremlin called Procrastination.
Procrastination is sneaky because it looks like taking a break. It looks like being productive when we shift our attention to something that needs attention, but maybe not as much or not right now…especially if it is less important to achieving our goals than what we are currently working on.
It’s good to LOOK for…
Thank you notes
Call me old fashioned…no, don’t. Call me gracious and grateful…yes, do.
I have personalized thank you notes (gracias, www.crane.com) that I love to send… and I LOVE to receive thank you notes. And by thank you notes, I mean a handwritten note and envelope. Yes, that kind of thank you note.
A young woman at a seminar recently told me that she doesn’t think thank you notes are genuine…and when I asked her to explain, she said she never received a handwritten one, but rather a thank you email w…
Structures and Support
“I don’t write goals, but I have them in my head.” What??
If you’ve heard yourself say that, challenge its efficacy: DID you really achieve the goal? Did you even have one? Or is that something you say to avoid the responsibility of making a commitment and then taking the actions to achieve the goal?
Some facts about goals:
- You need to write them down. The action of thinking it through and articulating what you want is powerful and part of the process.
- Put your goals somewhere that yo…
Actions Matter
Actions repeated create habits.
Actions are the only things that create results (not feelings or intentions or circumstances).
I often review goals that have action plans that are ‘insufficient for goal achievement.” What I mean by that is that the actions might have a value of $750K when repeated…which is GREAT…except that the goal is $1.1m. That’s not great. Make sure that the QUANTITY and the QUALITY of your actions are sufficient for the desired results. If you are not on track with your …
Identifying Pitfalls and Traps
Are you good for the first three days into a new initiative and then start to slip?
When do you stop doing the actions that you committed to?
Do you start to tell yourself: “It’s not that bad” or “It’s not that important?”
Rather than avoiding these natural tendencies, include them in your goals. Consider them BEFORE they happen so that when they pop up, you will be prepared for them.
For example, if you know that you start the month strong, make your first week goals and miss your thi…
Setting Goals
Happy New Year! (How long can we say that…all the way to the end of January…or the first time you speak with someone in the new year?)
If your goals aren’t completed yet (of course you have started them!), not to worry. Get busy on them so that you can start planning your strategy and actions. Here is a structure that works:
Always articulate your goals as a RESULT. Example: Write $1.2m in 2023. This example is the first rule:
S - Specific - Not vague or ambiguous. - [Write $1.2m] in 2023. …
Assessing versus Assuming
Assess OR Assume…you can’t do both.
And the only way you know which one you are currently doing is…drumroll, please…you are asking questions with only ONE of them: Assessing. Assessing means asking questions, not knowing and looking for evidence, but asking in order to know.
Asking questions is a skill. Every sales professional needs to see it as a skill to develop FOREVER because the customer buying process changes, the marketplace evolves, and the desire and ability to learn more and do …
Conscious Consistency
Conscious Consistency. I love the way this sounds. It came up in a coaching call (as so many things do!) and I had to write it down.
Conscious. Consistency. Two related but separate qualities that contribute to making new habits. Cool, huh?
Conscious. Present. Mindful. In the moment. Paying attention. Being focused on the action now. Noticing my thinking and how it impacts my actions.
Consistency. Repeating things that work. And again. Noticing how the action starts to become second na…
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