If you help enough people get what they want, you'll end up with everything you want...Zig Ziglar.
So true. Seems as though the more I pay attention to this principle, the more the world confirms it. This concept has been top of mind for me for the past two years. This kind of focus has almost forced me into the mindset of looking for opportunities to help the great people I know who could ultimately help me. Last night I had one of these example come up, so I feel compelled to share the story.
Our market here in Bloomington is relatively small in the remodel/home building arena. There's a lot of volume, but there's a relatively small number of "players"...a few big fish in a small pond. A few years ago I met one of the good guys on the real estate/home building side. He instantly made the list...the list of guys who could have an impact on my business, if I made it a point to help him.
Make a long story short, today he's been a great help in my business. He's given me roof projects on four or five of his rental properties, and has referred at least twelve people who've bought roofs from me. Awesome center of influence for me, to say the least.
Last night, I got a chance to re-pay this man. I was going door to door in the premier subdivision in town, trying to drum up leads for my contracting biz. I was having a good amount of success, really, and was feeling pretty damn confident. I stopped at the house I actually consider my dream home, because it's about 16 years old, and will be needing a roof soon. The owner was friendly...receptive. Turns out he's selling the place and would rather the new owner handle the roof. His only immediate request was that I help him with a leak he's been dealing with since last summer. When he told me he was wanting to sell, I asked who he was planning to list the house with. He had no real loyalty to any particular realtor, but had decided to use a guy I know at Prudential. By the way, this guy he said he was using, the realtor, is a total dick. He took a bunch of free window treatments from my wife, promising to steer business her way and never reciprocated. He's one of those blowhards who takes free lunches all week from small business owners who count on realtors to direct business to them, as their main system of marketing. This guy really only worries about himself, yet he promises everybody everything, just to look big time. Anyway, because of the tremendous support I've received from my realtor buddy, I went out of my way to push the issue with this homeowner. By the time I left, he couldn't wait to speak to my friend. When someone gives such strong reviews, who has no skin in that particular game, it sends a strong signal to the buyer. I think I just got my friend a $1.8 million listing. All because he helped me over and over without any expectation of getting anything in return.
This morning, by 9:00 am, I've already received two calls from people with roof issues who got my number from this same realtor. Amazing what happens when you help great people without expectation. It's the way the world works.
The real key here is that you're only going to get referrals from people if they're willing to go out of their way to help you. You have to make quite an impression for them to carry you that close in their day to day dealings. Think about that for a second. Everybody has their own issues they're dealing with. The last thing on anybody's mind is what's going on with you and what you need. They've got their own problems...family problems, cash flow problems, employee problems, customer problems, you name it. So, when, in the course of their day, somebody mentions in passing needing a roof, I'd better have done them right if they're going to stop what they're doing and say...."I've got a guy you have to call. He's the best, the only guy in town I'd ever use for a roof project". My situation last night is a great example. My boy has given me over $50,000 in profit from his referrals. Hell yes I'm going to find him every single piece of business I can find. His commission potential on this one house is at $108,000. Think he'll go out of his way to keep referring me to folks who talk about needing a roof? I believe he will. Plus, it felt damn good to make that call to tell him I may have gotten him a listing. Is there anybody out there fighting in your corner?
Keep this in mind when you feel like you're done for the day or the week. There's always time to go out and find a way to help somebody..especially somebody who could help you at some point.
Flip the switch
Friday, March 12, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Results mar 11, 2010
Rested today, and ate a ton. My body needed the rest and the fuel. Back at it hard manana!!
Measure and quantify
Are these goals we've created as far away as they seem?
Think about just one of your "things" goals we've created over this journey...and consider what you need to do financially to get it. For the sake of our discussion, let's look at an example, so we can determine exactly how much we have to step up our earnings. A dream home...Imagine I've gone out and taken a great photo of the house my wife and I just love. It's hanging on our bathroom mirror for me to see every morning when I arise and every night before I rack out. The lakefront lot...the open floor plan, the quad staircases, the five car garage, the office with the dark mahogany woodworking. My wife would be stoked beyond belief if I brought home the keys to this place.
Ok, now let's use this goal to take a hard look at the numbers, to determine how much extra money we've got to make to have this home, to see how far we are from making this happen. Once we figure out how to break our goals down into workable numbers...and they are workable, we can apply our formula to just about everything else we wish to be, do, or have. My goal is to bring these dreams, that just seem like abstract, hazy "what ifs", much closer, because you'll see we're not that far away once you put the numbers to them. The house scenario will illustrate my point.
Look at what the house costs. Let's say it's $650,000. Compare that with our current hypothetical mortgage and take the difference. Let's say our place now costs $2,000 per month, with taxes and insurance. The difference is $4,000 per month, roughly, when you add in the extra dough on the principal, plus the increase in taxes. Now we've got a real number to work with. $4,000
Now, let's look at how I get paid for what I do. I have two main vehicles for earning money. One is as a commissioned sales rep/owner of a manufacturing company; the other is a contracting business in which we complete projects for homeowners..mainly roofing. What do I need to do to earn an extra $4,000 per month? What do you need to do to earn the $4,000?
On the rep side - my commission rate is 5% on what I sell. I'd need to sell $80,000 per month extra to be able to buy that home. On the contracting side, my average sale is $10,000, with a profit margin of 30%....$3,000 per project. So, I'd need to sell a job and a half per month to make it work. Simple right?
Let's take the equation a step further, to gain a better understanding. In order for me to sell an additional $80,000 per month, what would I need to do? Well, there's a bunch of ways to get to $80,000, but let's begin with our average customer and use that as our baseline. The average dealer direct customer is going to buy $10-$20K per month from us. We'll use the $10K for our formula. We need 8 customers buying $10K each to get us there.
We have a couple of strategies we can utilize. One, is to find 8 new dealers...guys that have never bought anything from us. We could also go to our existing dealers and figure out a way to earn a greater percentage of their business or we could dig in and help them grow their business with us organically. These are our choices.
In my experience, it's always more effective and cost effective to grow the business with the folks who are buying from you now. New customers are more difficult to get in front of. They're going to take time, for sure, and there are lots of variables in the equation that take time to uncover and understand. The dealers who've already raised their hands and said "I like you, I trust you, I'm going to buy from you", these folks are gold, because they already see the value in you and your product and organization.
That all being said, I like the concept of utilizing both strategies. Organic growth is easier, it's less expensive, less time consuming, and it works. But, new business is the lifeblood of any organization. We have to bring new faces into the mix...it's how we increase our market share and develop more quality relationships with people in our industry. So, I'm going to shoot for $30K of organic growth and $50K of new biz growth. This will make my partners happy and we'll get to know more people for future growth.
What do we need to do over the next 90 days to get those 5 new dealers on board? We simply have to work the numbers. Sales, as we all know, is a numbers game, ultimately. It's a relationship game, but we have to work the numbers in order to hit our numbers. We see x number of prospects...we pitch x number of deals...to convert y number of dealers. You know your numbers, I can't help you with that. The only thing I can offer is my numbers, so you can see a real example of what this looks like.
I usually convert 3 to 5 out of 10 dealers I speak with. I'm talking about guys who take the time to sit down and really open up about their business. If I can get them talking about what's going on and what keeps them up at night, my closing ratio goes through the roof. But, for this example, I'll use 3 of 10 as my number. So, I need to cultivate deals for 20 prospects, in order to get my 5 or 6 new guys on board.
My system for working new guys is like this...I schedule meetings with them every other week for the entire quarter, making sure I get my mug in front of them six times. Each time I'll make damn sure I'm bringing it....I'm not showing up to kick the tires and beg for business. I'm showing up with focus, intensity, and a sense of urgency to help him grow his business. I don't worry about mine. If I help him, my numbers will be there. So, for the next quarter, I'm going balls out to help these 20 guys grow and make more profit. The numbers will be there...I promise you.
The existing customer approach is no different, except the numbers change. I'll dig in with my 5 or 6 top existing dealers, who I know have the ability to buy more from us, or have the capacity to grow. I'm also going to see them every other week for the next quarter, taking the same approach. Laser focused on growing their business. No begging, no whining about the economy, no nonsense at all. I'll come in with leads that I found canvassing the night before. Imagine the response you'll get if you walk into that owner's office with three qualified leads. He'll love you forever. But, again, it's the same intense approach. They'll see you're for real and are willing to do what you say you'll do.
In total, we're actually targeting 25-30 customers in total. These are our targets for the next 90 days. We see half of them this week, the other half next week - 15 calls per week, which is the number I shoot for. If you're seeing much more than 30, it seems to me like you've got too much going on. You can't do that many people justice. Remember, we're not just looking to make sales...we're looking for great people to be our partners. We must position ourselves as one of the elite. Our actions dictate how we're positioned with our customers and prospects. High-level problem solving, laser focus on growth and profitability, with a sense of urgency to close business every single day with your new partners will allow you to shatter your numbers. Just remember to focus on your core group...we can't spread ourselves too thin.
At the same time, I'm going to work to earn that same $4K on the contracting side of my business. Why not? If I earn $8K per month extra, instead of just the $4K, that'd be just fine. How do I do this? This is much easier to figure out....
My canvassing experience has provided us with pretty reliable metrics. We know that a canvasser will generate at least one good lead per hour if they work the targeted neighborhoods we've outlined in our packet. We close at least one out of three leads we run. So, to find a job and a half per month, we need an extra 4 or 5 leads. Simple. Real damn simple. All I have to do is get the canvassers out an extra hour or so per week. That'd give us the numbers we need to earn an extra $4,000 per month that would allow me to buy my wife and kids the house of their dreams...in this scenario.
Moving forward, we all need an action plan. My plan is to make damn sure I know who my 30 targets are on the rep side. I've got six geographic segments of my sales territory with five targets in each, approximately. Develop a route plan to cover all of your targets each time you hit that segment of the market. Remember, the goal is to hit each target every other week. This really goes right back to our Simple Disciplines. We have to make our sales calls every day. In order to get them all scheduled, we have to make our phone calls - 10 per day. This will ensure we're seeing enough people and have the funnel full at all times.
The plan for my contracting biz is to have the canvassing team out working for leads 16-20 hours per week. This should result in 16 - 20 leads per week. This will give me the 5-6 jobs per week I'm shooting for this season. This sytem will shatter the $4K needed to buy that dream home.
We can't forget to remain balanced. We have to get our butts in shape...running, doing pushups, pullups, crunches. We have to keep eating clean. I've got to keep blogging and working to complete my first book. Gotta keep locking in with the wives when we walk through that door. We've got to keep studying and learning. It's all about balance. We want to be much more than just a money maker.
Hopefully, I shared enough specifics for you to apply this to your situation. You may have different goals, I'm sure your numbers are different. Doesn't matter. What matters is that it's easy and it's key to break these goals down. When we sit back and just sort of dream of having nice things, it's easy to leave it at that - a dream. If we take a minute to look at the numbers, we often see we're much closer than we think. Would it really be that difficult to generate an extra $4K per month? It's closer than we all think. We just have to stay focused on those Simple Disciplines.
Flip the switch
Think about just one of your "things" goals we've created over this journey...and consider what you need to do financially to get it. For the sake of our discussion, let's look at an example, so we can determine exactly how much we have to step up our earnings. A dream home...Imagine I've gone out and taken a great photo of the house my wife and I just love. It's hanging on our bathroom mirror for me to see every morning when I arise and every night before I rack out. The lakefront lot...the open floor plan, the quad staircases, the five car garage, the office with the dark mahogany woodworking. My wife would be stoked beyond belief if I brought home the keys to this place.
Ok, now let's use this goal to take a hard look at the numbers, to determine how much extra money we've got to make to have this home, to see how far we are from making this happen. Once we figure out how to break our goals down into workable numbers...and they are workable, we can apply our formula to just about everything else we wish to be, do, or have. My goal is to bring these dreams, that just seem like abstract, hazy "what ifs", much closer, because you'll see we're not that far away once you put the numbers to them. The house scenario will illustrate my point.
Look at what the house costs. Let's say it's $650,000. Compare that with our current hypothetical mortgage and take the difference. Let's say our place now costs $2,000 per month, with taxes and insurance. The difference is $4,000 per month, roughly, when you add in the extra dough on the principal, plus the increase in taxes. Now we've got a real number to work with. $4,000
Now, let's look at how I get paid for what I do. I have two main vehicles for earning money. One is as a commissioned sales rep/owner of a manufacturing company; the other is a contracting business in which we complete projects for homeowners..mainly roofing. What do I need to do to earn an extra $4,000 per month? What do you need to do to earn the $4,000?
On the rep side - my commission rate is 5% on what I sell. I'd need to sell $80,000 per month extra to be able to buy that home. On the contracting side, my average sale is $10,000, with a profit margin of 30%....$3,000 per project. So, I'd need to sell a job and a half per month to make it work. Simple right?
Let's take the equation a step further, to gain a better understanding. In order for me to sell an additional $80,000 per month, what would I need to do? Well, there's a bunch of ways to get to $80,000, but let's begin with our average customer and use that as our baseline. The average dealer direct customer is going to buy $10-$20K per month from us. We'll use the $10K for our formula. We need 8 customers buying $10K each to get us there.
We have a couple of strategies we can utilize. One, is to find 8 new dealers...guys that have never bought anything from us. We could also go to our existing dealers and figure out a way to earn a greater percentage of their business or we could dig in and help them grow their business with us organically. These are our choices.
In my experience, it's always more effective and cost effective to grow the business with the folks who are buying from you now. New customers are more difficult to get in front of. They're going to take time, for sure, and there are lots of variables in the equation that take time to uncover and understand. The dealers who've already raised their hands and said "I like you, I trust you, I'm going to buy from you", these folks are gold, because they already see the value in you and your product and organization.
That all being said, I like the concept of utilizing both strategies. Organic growth is easier, it's less expensive, less time consuming, and it works. But, new business is the lifeblood of any organization. We have to bring new faces into the mix...it's how we increase our market share and develop more quality relationships with people in our industry. So, I'm going to shoot for $30K of organic growth and $50K of new biz growth. This will make my partners happy and we'll get to know more people for future growth.
What do we need to do over the next 90 days to get those 5 new dealers on board? We simply have to work the numbers. Sales, as we all know, is a numbers game, ultimately. It's a relationship game, but we have to work the numbers in order to hit our numbers. We see x number of prospects...we pitch x number of deals...to convert y number of dealers. You know your numbers, I can't help you with that. The only thing I can offer is my numbers, so you can see a real example of what this looks like.
I usually convert 3 to 5 out of 10 dealers I speak with. I'm talking about guys who take the time to sit down and really open up about their business. If I can get them talking about what's going on and what keeps them up at night, my closing ratio goes through the roof. But, for this example, I'll use 3 of 10 as my number. So, I need to cultivate deals for 20 prospects, in order to get my 5 or 6 new guys on board.
My system for working new guys is like this...I schedule meetings with them every other week for the entire quarter, making sure I get my mug in front of them six times. Each time I'll make damn sure I'm bringing it....I'm not showing up to kick the tires and beg for business. I'm showing up with focus, intensity, and a sense of urgency to help him grow his business. I don't worry about mine. If I help him, my numbers will be there. So, for the next quarter, I'm going balls out to help these 20 guys grow and make more profit. The numbers will be there...I promise you.
The existing customer approach is no different, except the numbers change. I'll dig in with my 5 or 6 top existing dealers, who I know have the ability to buy more from us, or have the capacity to grow. I'm also going to see them every other week for the next quarter, taking the same approach. Laser focused on growing their business. No begging, no whining about the economy, no nonsense at all. I'll come in with leads that I found canvassing the night before. Imagine the response you'll get if you walk into that owner's office with three qualified leads. He'll love you forever. But, again, it's the same intense approach. They'll see you're for real and are willing to do what you say you'll do.
In total, we're actually targeting 25-30 customers in total. These are our targets for the next 90 days. We see half of them this week, the other half next week - 15 calls per week, which is the number I shoot for. If you're seeing much more than 30, it seems to me like you've got too much going on. You can't do that many people justice. Remember, we're not just looking to make sales...we're looking for great people to be our partners. We must position ourselves as one of the elite. Our actions dictate how we're positioned with our customers and prospects. High-level problem solving, laser focus on growth and profitability, with a sense of urgency to close business every single day with your new partners will allow you to shatter your numbers. Just remember to focus on your core group...we can't spread ourselves too thin.
At the same time, I'm going to work to earn that same $4K on the contracting side of my business. Why not? If I earn $8K per month extra, instead of just the $4K, that'd be just fine. How do I do this? This is much easier to figure out....
My canvassing experience has provided us with pretty reliable metrics. We know that a canvasser will generate at least one good lead per hour if they work the targeted neighborhoods we've outlined in our packet. We close at least one out of three leads we run. So, to find a job and a half per month, we need an extra 4 or 5 leads. Simple. Real damn simple. All I have to do is get the canvassers out an extra hour or so per week. That'd give us the numbers we need to earn an extra $4,000 per month that would allow me to buy my wife and kids the house of their dreams...in this scenario.
Moving forward, we all need an action plan. My plan is to make damn sure I know who my 30 targets are on the rep side. I've got six geographic segments of my sales territory with five targets in each, approximately. Develop a route plan to cover all of your targets each time you hit that segment of the market. Remember, the goal is to hit each target every other week. This really goes right back to our Simple Disciplines. We have to make our sales calls every day. In order to get them all scheduled, we have to make our phone calls - 10 per day. This will ensure we're seeing enough people and have the funnel full at all times.
The plan for my contracting biz is to have the canvassing team out working for leads 16-20 hours per week. This should result in 16 - 20 leads per week. This will give me the 5-6 jobs per week I'm shooting for this season. This sytem will shatter the $4K needed to buy that dream home.
We can't forget to remain balanced. We have to get our butts in shape...running, doing pushups, pullups, crunches. We have to keep eating clean. I've got to keep blogging and working to complete my first book. Gotta keep locking in with the wives when we walk through that door. We've got to keep studying and learning. It's all about balance. We want to be much more than just a money maker.
Hopefully, I shared enough specifics for you to apply this to your situation. You may have different goals, I'm sure your numbers are different. Doesn't matter. What matters is that it's easy and it's key to break these goals down. When we sit back and just sort of dream of having nice things, it's easy to leave it at that - a dream. If we take a minute to look at the numbers, we often see we're much closer than we think. Would it really be that difficult to generate an extra $4K per month? It's closer than we all think. We just have to stay focused on those Simple Disciplines.
Flip the switch
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
results mar 10, 2010
Again, the deal is to complete the following over a 55 day period, that began two days ago:
Run 200 miles
Complete 5000 pushups
5000 crunches
2500 pullups
Today's numbers...
ran 6 miles
50 pullups
Great day. It's days like these I'm proud of most. I had a tough time physically and mentally but pushed through and finished. Outstanding.
Run 200 miles
Complete 5000 pushups
5000 crunches
2500 pullups
Today's numbers...
ran 6 miles
50 pullups
Great day. It's days like these I'm proud of most. I had a tough time physically and mentally but pushed through and finished. Outstanding.
A little push
The discipline to push through, when others quit.
Four miles into my run today, I seriously felt like my heart was going to tear open and spill out onto the gym floor. We all have days where we just don't have much in the tank...today was one of those days. The pain was overriding any drive I had to press on. Repeated attempts to reference some belief in my brain, to find an empowering philosophy failed, time after time. Normally, some strong belief comes to the surface when I'm about to quit and am rationalizing about how much that would actually make sense. Today...nothing.
For some reason, though, I told myself to keep on going, even if I had to walk. Quitting was not an option, even though I was racing through every rationalization I had in the bag. So, I kept on. I slowed the pace to a brisk walk, so I could catch my breath a bit and hopefully, find some reason why I should reach down and find the gumption to keep going. My head was frickin pounding. My legs felt like they were someone else's, and I just could not get it going. Music wasn't doing the trick...nor was any of the internal searching I was doing.
Then it hit me...this blog. I realized I was going to have to sit down tonight and update this thing, and discuss my activity for the day. My goal for this run was six miles, and I wanted to be able to jot that number down tonight when I posted. I swear the pressure that comes with professing your goals to the world is one of the most powerful motivators we have in our arsenal. Nobody wants to look like a poser. It's the worst...at least that's what my rules tell me. I won't look like a douche. I'm sure that's ego..and a problem, in somebody's eyes. I don't care. It's what moves me into action. Now that I know this, I have a hugely effective strategy for leveraging myself into taking action.
The last two miles of the run were still brutal, but I finished. Not sure I would've had the guts to, if I hadn't dug deep and found a reference to drive me into that state of never backing down. We all have our thing that gives us this leverage. It may be a towards thing, it may be an away from thing...doesn't matter. What matters is that we find the leverage we need to get our butts moving. What's yours?
Flip the switch
Four miles into my run today, I seriously felt like my heart was going to tear open and spill out onto the gym floor. We all have days where we just don't have much in the tank...today was one of those days. The pain was overriding any drive I had to press on. Repeated attempts to reference some belief in my brain, to find an empowering philosophy failed, time after time. Normally, some strong belief comes to the surface when I'm about to quit and am rationalizing about how much that would actually make sense. Today...nothing.
For some reason, though, I told myself to keep on going, even if I had to walk. Quitting was not an option, even though I was racing through every rationalization I had in the bag. So, I kept on. I slowed the pace to a brisk walk, so I could catch my breath a bit and hopefully, find some reason why I should reach down and find the gumption to keep going. My head was frickin pounding. My legs felt like they were someone else's, and I just could not get it going. Music wasn't doing the trick...nor was any of the internal searching I was doing.
Then it hit me...this blog. I realized I was going to have to sit down tonight and update this thing, and discuss my activity for the day. My goal for this run was six miles, and I wanted to be able to jot that number down tonight when I posted. I swear the pressure that comes with professing your goals to the world is one of the most powerful motivators we have in our arsenal. Nobody wants to look like a poser. It's the worst...at least that's what my rules tell me. I won't look like a douche. I'm sure that's ego..and a problem, in somebody's eyes. I don't care. It's what moves me into action. Now that I know this, I have a hugely effective strategy for leveraging myself into taking action.
The last two miles of the run were still brutal, but I finished. Not sure I would've had the guts to, if I hadn't dug deep and found a reference to drive me into that state of never backing down. We all have our thing that gives us this leverage. It may be a towards thing, it may be an away from thing...doesn't matter. What matters is that we find the leverage we need to get our butts moving. What's yours?
Flip the switch
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
The update
A quick tool to improve your business...
Recently, I came across a great little tool in managing yourself or your team. Well, actually, it's about managing our focus...the ultimate time management strategy. We can't do anything with time, other than manage what we choose to focus on during that time. That being said, I've got something that can help us manage our focus...
Commit to the following exercise:
At the end of each day, send yourself(or have your team send you) a daily business update. The update consists of three questions.
1. What did I do today? These are your results.
2. What challenges/problems did I come up against?
3. What questions do I have as a result?
Simple, yes. Powerful, yes. It's powerful because it drives activity. I don't care what business endeavor you're involved in, activity is the key to driving revenue. The more activity we create on the front end of our businesses, the more opportunities we get to land new deals. It's a numbers game, plain and simple. The more deals we pitch, the more we end up closing. Just knowing you've got to fill out the update will be enough to make sure you're out doing the deal...seeing enough prospects, making enough phone calls, creating awesome solutions for clients, etc.
Now, as a tool for leading new people(other than yourself), the update is extraordinary. First, you'll see if they even have the stones or wherewithall to send you the damn thing. You'd be amazed how many bullshit artists there are out there who talk big game and do nothing. You'll weed these losers out right off the bat. If they do send it, you'll know if they've got the courage and consistency to make it long-term. If they're not coming up against challenges, if they're not coming up with questions - good questions, you'll know they're not doing what they should be doing to make your business grow. The challenges/questions portion will allow you to sift through the bullshit, in case they're putting more focus into lying on the update than they are the actual gig.
The update will make you a better business person...period. The guilt would be overwhelming if you had to bullshit yourself on your own update. That'd be more than I could handle. If you haven't noticed, these are difficult times out there. Millions of good peeps are without work, and would do just about anything to take your job away from you, given the chance. We must step up our game, regardless of how well we may be producing currently. We owe it to ourselves, to our families, to our partners, to our employers to get better and go out and beat the bushes. The update will only help us in this endeavor.
Flip the switch
Recently, I came across a great little tool in managing yourself or your team. Well, actually, it's about managing our focus...the ultimate time management strategy. We can't do anything with time, other than manage what we choose to focus on during that time. That being said, I've got something that can help us manage our focus...
Commit to the following exercise:
At the end of each day, send yourself(or have your team send you) a daily business update. The update consists of three questions.
1. What did I do today? These are your results.
2. What challenges/problems did I come up against?
3. What questions do I have as a result?
Simple, yes. Powerful, yes. It's powerful because it drives activity. I don't care what business endeavor you're involved in, activity is the key to driving revenue. The more activity we create on the front end of our businesses, the more opportunities we get to land new deals. It's a numbers game, plain and simple. The more deals we pitch, the more we end up closing. Just knowing you've got to fill out the update will be enough to make sure you're out doing the deal...seeing enough prospects, making enough phone calls, creating awesome solutions for clients, etc.
Now, as a tool for leading new people(other than yourself), the update is extraordinary. First, you'll see if they even have the stones or wherewithall to send you the damn thing. You'd be amazed how many bullshit artists there are out there who talk big game and do nothing. You'll weed these losers out right off the bat. If they do send it, you'll know if they've got the courage and consistency to make it long-term. If they're not coming up against challenges, if they're not coming up with questions - good questions, you'll know they're not doing what they should be doing to make your business grow. The challenges/questions portion will allow you to sift through the bullshit, in case they're putting more focus into lying on the update than they are the actual gig.
The update will make you a better business person...period. The guilt would be overwhelming if you had to bullshit yourself on your own update. That'd be more than I could handle. If you haven't noticed, these are difficult times out there. Millions of good peeps are without work, and would do just about anything to take your job away from you, given the chance. We must step up our game, regardless of how well we may be producing currently. We owe it to ourselves, to our families, to our partners, to our employers to get better and go out and beat the bushes. The update will only help us in this endeavor.
Flip the switch
Today's Results -- Mar 9, 2010
Again, the objective is 200 miles from Mar 8 to May 1, a total of 55 days. Also, to perform 5000 pushups, 5000 crunches, and 2500 pullups.
Today's results...
3 miles
120 pushups
180 crunches
0 pullups
Pretty rough day, mentally, as far as getting off my ass and getting to it. I fought like hell to even get to the gym. Rationalizations were flying around my head all morning, all afternoon. I absolutely hate this side of my brain chemistry. Not sure what it is with our ability to make the worst of decisions sound like a genius plan. The good news is I pushed through it, though. I got some activity done on a day in which I'd have normally have pulled up lame. So, good day all-in-all.
The diet was pretty solid as well. I ate clean at Subway for lunch and had some baked lean chicken breast for dinner, with some steamed broccoli and whole grain noodles. Mixed in an apple mid-afternoon.
Getting closer.
Today's results...
3 miles
120 pushups
180 crunches
0 pullups
Pretty rough day, mentally, as far as getting off my ass and getting to it. I fought like hell to even get to the gym. Rationalizations were flying around my head all morning, all afternoon. I absolutely hate this side of my brain chemistry. Not sure what it is with our ability to make the worst of decisions sound like a genius plan. The good news is I pushed through it, though. I got some activity done on a day in which I'd have normally have pulled up lame. So, good day all-in-all.
The diet was pretty solid as well. I ate clean at Subway for lunch and had some baked lean chicken breast for dinner, with some steamed broccoli and whole grain noodles. Mixed in an apple mid-afternoon.
Getting closer.
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