Over the years, I have read many theories about successful sales. The one fundamental thought that made the most sense to me was that we cannot achieve maximum success if our body, mind, and sales approach are not in balance and focused.
A person cannot develop a program for achieving their business objectives, if those objectives are not in line with his or her basic priority system. For example, a person who develops a plan that requires them to work weekends, when their first priority is time with family, is going to have a difficult time succeeding. Unless they create a work schedule that allows for adequate time with their loved ones, success will be hard to attain. Therefore, we must discover what our true priorities are, in order of importance, and develop a business plan that is not in conflict with those priorities. This basic awareness of who we are and what we are about will allow us to build a program for success.
It is my opinion that success is a positive state of mind, based on a solid plan, and begins when you first open your eyes in the morning. The Steps to Starting A Successful Day are as follows:
•1. When you wake up in the morning, get a cup of coffee, tea, or whatever is your pleasure, and spend 15 to 30 minutes reading something positive and uplifting. Some people read the Bible, pray, and do devotionals. Others might read excerpts from books like More Precious Than Silver by Joni Eareckson Tada. Another suggestion could be The Whispers of Angels by Annette Smith, or Chicken Soup for The Soul by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen.
•2. Take a 30-minute brisk walk, or go for a jog. Any cardiovascular exercise will start your system "hitting on eight cylinders", which allows you to start the day invigorated and feeling alive.
•3. Eat a good breakfast, low in fat and high in protein. Your body needs "fuel" to run until lunch. Do not overeat, but do not start the day hungry.
•4. Review your schedule for the day. Your schedule should be organized weekly by putting your task in three categories:
•a. The tasks I must accomplish today. These are the things you must get done the week in question, on a certain day. These are scheduled first and are of top priority. We do not finish the week without getting these items completed. They are our "A" tasks.
•b. Tasks that I must complete after the category "A" items are accomplished. These are scheduled with the category "A" items, but are subordinate. These tasks should be completed in the week schedule, if they are not in conflict with a category "A" objective.
•c. These tasks are things that I want to get accomplished, but are not priority items.
•5. Execute your plan for the day. Do not listen to the radio while you are driving to appointments; rather listen to uplifting tapes like The Earl Nightingale Series, or a sales motivational tape. You have done all of the right things for success, continue to nurture yourself all day. You know it is lonely out there in the sales world, fortify your armor!
•6. Get a fellow sales person to be your ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER. You both pledge to each other to talk each morning, share your schedule for the day, ask each other hard questions and hold one another ACCOUNTABLE. Tell each other the most difficult or hardest thing you have to do that day, and vow to one another to do it first. Do not carry that "baggage" with you all day. It will weigh you down and affect everything you try to do.
On a lighter note, you can do what a friend of mine does each morning. On the way to work, she plays at peak volume in her car, a heavy metal version of Zippity-Do-Da. It definitely gets her blood pumping...and her ears throbbing!
This is the first one and a half to two hours of the day. Yes, you may have to get up a little earlier, and yes, some of us are not "morning people". But you can re-invent yourself if a sales career is what you want. I know from experience this program works. So, try for a couple of months and see if your energy level, effectiveness, focus, and attitude aren't better than ever. My bet is you will make this a part of your life.
Good Luck!
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