IT'S SUMMERTIME!… In 1935 George Gershwin introduced his timeless song entitled "Summertime". As part of the musical "Porgy & Bess" it began with "Summertime and the living is easy… fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high". Sounds pretty idyllic doesn't it? The truth is in the world of Sales…the summertime provides 2 great opportunities for top producers. It is an opportunity to create terrific memories with your family PLUS…it is an opportunity to surpass the competition. The question is how to achieve this balance?
Here is your ACTION STEP… this balance will give you the "best of both". Here's how to do that. Introduce two separate strategies:
Strategy #1. Plan your time off. Start by deciding what times and dates you are going to enjoy personal time and vacations. Mark it on your calendar, put it on the wall, make sure you look at it every day. This is the "carrot" that allows Strategy #2 to work so well.
Strategy #2. Work Smarter Than the Rest… there is lots of business to be done in the summer. The economy doesn't stop. What does stop is a multitude of Salespeople buy into the excuse that "… the living is easy…". While they are taking it easy, you can win by making sure that the times you have allocated to work are times when you put in extra effort. This will separate you from the competition. Don't subscribe to the excuse that "no one is buying right now"… we all know this is not true.That's just a story others use to justify less work!
As the expression goes, "work all the time that you work". In a recent magazine article, CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz was quoted as saying that we need to "make the tough choices. It's not just the planning, it's how you execute that counts." Follow Schultz's advice… make the tough choices and when temptation creeps in to slack off… nip it in the bud and do your job. This is the difference between having a balanced lifestyle and having poor work ethic. You can get "the best of both". Stay focused on enjoying your summer and still be highly productive. Make the tough choices, Superstars do it all year round. NO Excuses.