IT WEIGHS A TON…in a practical sense, Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the telephone made sales a lot easier. Rather than going door to door to generate business, you just pick up the phone and do your transactions that way. Notwithstanding the need to have periodic face-to-face contact, it’s a dramatically much more efficient way to generate leads. We all agree on that. The problem is that some days… the phone seems to weigh 2000 pounds! Some days it’s is so heavy you just can’t pick it up. Other days it only weighs 1 pound and that’s a lot easier. So what’s the solution?
Here is your ACTION STEP… the secret is to create a series of habits. A series of habits becomes a routine. Here’s the big bonus…Once you have the routine in place, the phone only weighs 1 pound… every day, all day. So it all starts with habits. What are the habits of highly successful Salespeople?
1. Commit to doing your lead generation in the morning.
2. Have all your phone numbers ready the night before.
3. Start at the same time every day. This may seem boring but the alternative isn’t really working very well is it?
4. Commit to a specific timeframe (example 2 hours) or a minimum number of contacts (example 20 per day). Stretch a bit.
5. Accept the fact that these two hours are the most critical part of the Sales process. No more complaining. (“Thou shalt not whineth”)
6. Make sure you have all your scripts ready so that you always know what to say. Those who “wing it” are bound to crash!
7. Eliminate all temptation/interruptions/excuses. Nothing is more important!
The way to make the phone weigh less is to pick it up more often, pick it up at the same time every day, and stop making such a big deal out of the need to generate leads. That is your job! The best Salespeople usually don’t like to prospect either…but they like the results. As long as you’re going to be in Sales, you may as well do it the right way. NO Excuses.