Caught Napping !!!!

                                                      

Edition 81 Monday March 14th  2011

Hi, I remember my dad used to have afternoon naps on the weekend and I always wondered how he could sleep during the day? Well Ive now figured it out its because he was exhausted and sleep came easily to him, just like it did to me on the weekend as I also napped during the day! It may have had something to do with all the energy I used up getting in and out of my special ‘second skin’ triathlon wetsuit, crikey what a mission, must have looked hilarious on Pt Chev beach doing battle with it !

I love the weekend but have been guilty over the years of not making the most effective use of the those precious two days. By applying some thought to the process you can even afford to have the odd nap or two and still get the most out of the weekly break.My secret is to start the process on Friday by making them exciting build up days where you can infect everyone with happiness by reaching out and touching the weekend it is so close ! Form this habit and an ‘Upbeat’ buzzy Friday effectively becomes part of the weekend!...Then you need to take note of the ‘message to self’ from last week to get away more often and ACT…so we did,and duly booked some more weekends out of town not too far ahead. This is exciting and something we are looking forward to, I wish I could keep a secret because it is quite fun to make them a surprise for partners and family… too exciting for me. Weekends are precious and have taken on a new importance for me,I hope you also treasure these two golden days and always plan to  get the most from them…Cheers Jonesey

Harry the happy hound has perfected the art of the weekend nap morning noon and night!

“Person stand for long time with mouth open before roast duck fly in” Chinese Proverb

In my current role I am often out of the office driving too and from organised meetings and site visits so… last week I decided that each time I would take time to do one cold call each time as well.

I am out of the office approximately twice a day so this would mean at least 10 cold calls per week or nearly 500 calls per annum. If you applied the 10 calls for 1 order theory to this call total it represents 50 new customers per year.Sales is a numbers game and this simple maths proves it …so why do so many sales people struggle to make sales and achieve budgets? The answer is lack of planning and a reluctance to develop a simple plan like the one above and stick to it. The most successful sales people are not rocket scientists, they are organised hard workers who are disciplined and habitually work their plan.

Planning, persistence and perserverence are words we all hear on a regular basis,they are the corner stones of any successful sales career.Customers like to deal with people and companies that are proactive and innovative, not companies that ‘stand for long time with mouths open complacently waiting for the roast duck to fly in’.The reality is sales people cold calling will win ‘ roast duck’.

Back to me…(its all about me afterall!) my basic cold calling plan has had a significant impact on the customers I have called on and has netted me a number of new business opportunities as a result of timing, my good looks and natural charm. One new customer goes out of his way to tell our directors how impressed he was with my original cold call each time we call (cost me a small fortune).

“Fail nine times, stand up ten”. Japenese Proverb