UNDERSTANDING WHAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE… ever have one of those stretches where nothing seems to go right? You know the situation…whatever you do, things don’t happen the way they usually do, the way they’re supposed to? It's natural to ask… “Why is this happening, it just doesn’t make sense!”. The key is not WHY is this happening? It happens to everyone. The key is WHAT should I do about it? Sports analogies are easy to relate to because they illustrate what we all go through in our own lives in a very visible way. Have a look at this situation…the Washington Capitals of the NHL were having a great season in 2010-11. Then near the end of December they had a stretch of bad games. As a matter of fact in the last eight games of the year they had six losses and two ties (0-6-2). In a word… terrible. Now fast-forward to March 2011. They went through a stretch of 11 wins and only one loss (11-1-0). Big difference! How does that happen?
Here is your ACTION STEP… during an interview their Coach, Bruce Boudreau was asked how they could go from such poor results in December to being in a position of winning their division in March?!! His answer is something all Salespeople should understand. Mr. Boudreau replied, "Because we were doing all the right things during that stretch of losses, I was not worried. The fact is sometimes, no matter what you do… the puck does not go in the net!". As usual, some of the simplest statements turn out to be the most profound.
Here are 3 steps to help you apply this philosophy to your Sales Business:
- Have a Plan where your activities equal your goals. Make sure what you do adds up to Success.
- Follow through on these activities day after day after day… be Consistent.
- CRITICAL POINT… Have Faith that you will be rewarded in a reasonable period of time.
Coach Boudreau is right…some days, some weeks, and even some months, no matter what you do… "the puck does not go in the net". Keep doing the right things and you will always "score" in the long-run. The best piece of advice of all is this: have a plan, stay the course, & have faith. Your business didn’t change overnight… what worked before will work again. NO Excuses.