Sales and Sales Management Blog

January 24, 2012

Guest Article: Avoiding the Activity Trap, by Jeb Brooks

Filed under: career development,success,time management — Paul McCord @ 11:01 am
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Avoiding the Activity Trap
by Jeb Brooks

Many salespeople make the assumption that activity leads to results. “As long as I’m doing something,” they argue, “results will come.”

This is a mistake. It’s the best way to get stuck in the activity trap. The activity trap occurs when you begin working too hard to make the sale. Sales is much more simple than a lot of salespeople make it out to be.

Above all, your interactions must be meaningful. If all you’re doing on a call with a prospect is saying ‘hello,’ all you’ll hear is ‘hell no.’ Instead, your activities need to fall into one of these four productive buckets:

  1. They educate your prospects.
  2. They uncover essential information about your prospect.
  3. They reveal pivotal information about your solution to your prospect.
  4. They close opportunities (for the good or bad).

First, Educational activities provide information to your prospects that make them more receptive to your messaging. These kinds of activities help them understand the business impact you can have on their operation. They help them understand that you have something meaningful to say to them. Examples include:

  • Sending useful content (e.g., articles, whitepapers, etc.) to them
  • Sponsoring roundtable discussions for your prospects to meet your happy customers
  • Publishing pamphlets about your solution
  • Providing well-documented case studies to your prospects

Activities that allow you to uncover essential information about your prospects are some of the most important. The most common is the face-to-face (or phone-to-phone) meeting. These probing meetings allow you to ask meaningful questions that help (1) demonstrate your expertise in their field and (2) gather information you need to make a meaningful recommendation to them. They include:

  • Surveys
  • Interviews
  • Focus Groups
  • Sales Interviews

Revealing your recommended solution to your prospect is — obviously — essential. Doing it, though, requires more than just activity. Instead, meaningful sales presentations are carefully targeted to your prospects particular situation. This can be done in any number of ways, but is dependent on effectively uncovering practical information in your probing meeting.

  • Webinars
  • Formal Presentations
  • Demonstrations
  • Tours

Finally, the most directly meaningful of all sales activities are those that close business. This is typically in some kind of interaction between a salesperson and a prospect-turned-customer. Alternatively, you might discover that a particular prospect isn’t a good fit for your solution. This, too, can be good because it allows you to move on.

If your “activity” doesn’t fall into one of those four buckets, it’s probably wasteful. Many outside reps believe that activity begets results. With one slight change, the statement becomes true:

The Right Activity Begets Meaningful Results.

Jeb Brooks is Executive Vice President of The Brooks Group, one of the world’s Top Ten Sales Training Firms as ranked by Selling Power Magazine. He’s a sought-after commentator on sales and sales management issues, having appeared in numerous publications including the Wall Street Journal. Jeb authored the second edition of the book “Perfect Phrases for the Sales Call.” He regularly writes for The Brooks Group’s popular Sales Blog <http://www.brooksgroup.com/blog>. Follow him on Twitter: @JebBrooks

December 28, 2011

Focus Your Time on Selling, Not on Busy Work

Filed under: career development,sales,selling,success,time management — Paul McCord @ 11:06 am
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Like many salespeople and small business owners, I find staying focused during prime selling hours to be difficult. As a sales trainer, coach, and consultant, my days are filled with activities that try to pull me away from selling. Yet, like every other company, selling is the life blood of my business—its what keeps the doors open and the company healthy and growing.

Interruptions, minor emergencies, emails, phone calls, and a myriad of other issues and concerns are constantly trying to draw my attention away from my primary business activity—selling.

Listen, I have only certain hours during the day that are my prime selling hours. If I lose those hours, I lose revenue; I lose precious time that no matter how hard I work, I can never regain. Consequently, it is important I keep my focus on true sales activities between 8am and 5pm.

Nevertheless, there are things that must be done and some of those things simply won’t wait until non-selling hours.

So what did I do?

My solution has been to set aside four ½-hour times during the day when I will address non-selling issues. Twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon I set aside my selling and marketing activities in order to return calls, handle ‘emergencies,’ and the other ‘busy’ work of my business.

Of course, if a real emergency arises, it takes precedence over all else. But real emergencies are rare.

This process has allowed me to concentrate on selling and prospecting without worrying that other aspects of my business will suffer. Anything that comes up will be addressed shortly—but without interrupting my selling time.

It takes discipline to get into the habit of leaving things lie for a little while. But those things that used to find ways to cut my selling time in half—or more–are now much controllable.

Follow Paul on Twitter @paul_mccord

July 26, 2011

Managing the Crisis of Time in Sales

Filed under: lead generation,management,marketing,prospecting,sales,selling,small business,time management — Paul McCord @ 4:04 pm
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Time is one of the most critical factors in sales and it is one of the most difficult to manage.  As I discussed a few days ago, salespeople often are saddled with conflicting demands by management—to sell while still dedicating a tremendous number of hours involved in non-sales activities such as meetings, filling out reports, taking care of internal company matters that could well be handled by someone else, and, of course, customer service issues.

In many organizations there is a virtual time management crisis with their sales teams as they try to figure out how to get their salespeople out into the field selling.

Whether you manage a giant sales force that covers multiple countries or a modest sales team that covers a city or small region, figuring out how to effectively keep your salespeople selling instead of engaged in non-income producing activities is—or certainly should be—a major concern.

For decades managers have tried to find ways to help their sales team members increase sales.  Unfortunately, so often instead of encouraging sales, management ends up hindering their team’s ability to sell by loading them up with non-income producing activities such as attending useless meetings, completing reports, and performing customer service and even collection duties that should be being dealt with by others.

One of the most common activities managers expect their sales team members to perform is that of lead generator.  Almost every company, no matter the size or industry, relies on its sales team members to find and connect with quality prospects on their own.  Many of these companies ask their sellers to simply supplement market’s efforts in terms of lead generation, while others—a great many others—leave lead generation entirely to their salespeople.

In those companies where lead generation is completely the responsibility of the individual salesperson, sellers are required to come up with potential prospect names, research them to determine if they are really suspects or not, contact them, qualify them, set up an appointment, and then, finally, make some kind of presentation.

How much time and effort is spent on generating, contacting, and qualifying the lead?  Depending upon the product or service a salesperson can invest not just hours on a single potential prospect but literally days of time invested in a single lead.

That single lead—that very often results in not only a no sale but turns out to be not even a qualified prospect—can cost hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars.

And we haven’t even begun to talk about all the time these same salespeople invest in developing their own marketing and sales materials, writing and sending prospecting letters, and spending huge amounts of time researching names that never make it to the “prospect” list..

The question then becomes are there realistic and cost effective strategies to significantly alleviate these costly activities? 

Fortunately there are some solutions that can make a great deal of sense no matter the size of the company.

Depending upon company size, hiring a small inside sales group whose function is to set appointments for the sales team can be very cost effective.  Having a staff that is paid on an hourly or percentage of closed sales basis can free up sellers to see more prospects and close more sales while decreasing the overall cost of the sale.  Many companies have very successfully created an inside sales team to supplement and support the outside team, significantly reducing the cost of each individual sale while increasing production.

For many companies who either don’t want to commitment to an inside sales team or who would like to ‘try out’ the concept before making the investment, outsourcing the lead generation and prospect qualification function to a call center outsourcing company is a perfect solution.  Outsourcing gives one the opportunity to free up the sales team without the long-term commitment an inside team would demand.

Another possibility would be to rely on marketing to more effectively qualify and nurture the leads they generate.  Often sellers reject leads generated by marketing because they believe them to be either of inferior quality or to be so far from sales ready that following up is a waste of time.  This isn’t to ignore that many times salespeople simply don’t follow-up on leads or they make a call and when they don’t connect they simply move on to another prospect.  But in many instances the quality of the leads are so poor that eventually sales rejects them out of hand.  Creating a more effective lead qualification and nurturing program can not only change sale’s view of company leads but can greatly reduce the cost of sales.

Whether you look to creating an inside team, outsourcing the function, or developing a more effective lead generation and nurturing program, finding a realistic solution to having salespeople act as lead generators, marketers, and salespeople will help to both increase production and reduce the cost of the individual sale.

January 12, 2011

Guest Article: “40 Ways to Manage Your Time Tips,” by Josiane Feigon

Filed under: time management — Paul McCord @ 2:21 pm
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40 Ways to Manage Your Time Tips
by Josiane Feigon

1.    Turn off the email alert and instant message functions on your computer when you are making calls during peak hours.
2.    Don’t check your personal email during work hours.
3.    Refuse to do the unimportant.  Keep eliminating dead-end tasks.
4.    Learn to say “no” tactfully to requests that get you off-track.
5.    Don’t waste your valuable work time on social chat – stay focused on your work goals.
6.    Associate with time-conscious, organized and motivated sales people.  The feeling is contagious.  They will spur you on to make the most out of your time.
7.    Rearrange your work space. Use the “near-far” rule. 
8.    To discourage interruptions, set a non-negotiable calling time.
9.    Make your voice mail messages more specific, concise and action-oriented. Create urgency in your tone.
10.    Set deadlines for yourself and others, and keep them.
11.    Use your commute time efficiently.
12.    Reward yourself after, not before, completing work; stop procrastinating.
13.    Get organized, make a to-do list and use it.
14.    Always prioritize! Schedule more important work before less important work.
15.    Balance your plan…allow for the unexpected.
16.    Clean up your email inbox.
17.    Learn to qualify your prospects and don’t waste time pursuing bad leads.
18.    Update your contact management program and keep it current. 
19.    Ask for the first appointment of the day.  It’s the one most likely to start on time.
20.    Don’t offer to send literature, research, quotes without a commitment.
21.    Ditch low-potential prospects, or low-performing customers.  Cut your losses. 
22.    Don’t do what’s easy or trivial first – do what’s most important first! Learn to prioritize tasks.
23.    Don’t rush into things – assess their importance, prioritize, and plan.
24.    Read quickly…learn to skim and speed read, when appropriate.
25.    Batch tasks based on skill requirements; practice skill-shifting.
26.    Think positive and stop worrying about things you cannot control.
27.    Make a commitment to try something new every day to improve the use of your time.
28.    Set goals and create an action plan; this will increase your motivation.
29.    Use the 15-minute cycles as a period of time to start and finish activities.
30.    Don’t over-prepare for your calls, learn quick research techniques.
31.    Don’t limit yourself on the best time to prospect for new business.
32.    Improve your memory.
33.    Practice stronger rebound tactics after tough calls.
34.    Build lists, refine and refocus on quality only.
35.    Align your selling cycle with your customer’s buying cycle.
36.    Learn to sell faster.
37.    Sell at the highest level.
38.    Don’t get tangled in information overload.
39.    Create a success formula.
40.    Determine your qualification criteria- use it on all calls.

Josiane Feigon is a pioneer, maverick and visionary in the Sales 2.0 community. As President and Founder of TeleSmart, Josiane is a 20-year veteran and one of the world’s leading experts on developing sales teams and management talent. She provides consulting, coaching, and training solutions for hundreds of Fortune 500 companies whose global Sales organizations range from 20-800 salespeople. Visit her website at www.tele-smart.com

December 29, 2010

Book Review: Make Every Second Count

Filed under: Book Reviews,time management — Paul McCord @ 10:58 am
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Time.  Almost every seller and sales leader has time issues.  There’s just not enough time to get everything done—especially at the end of the month with the pressure of getting sales in, getting paperwork caught up, and getting the pipeline beefed up for the coming month.

Many of us find ourselves spending a good deal of time trying to figure out how to squeeze out a few more minutes here, an extra hour there, or another day every week.  Our lives seem to be nothing but a continual struggle against the clock.

Robert W. Bly’s, Make Every Second Count; Time Management Tips and Techniques for More Success with Less Stress (Career Press: 2010) gives some relevant advice and guidance, yet so much of the book is simply filler that it makes it difficult to decide whether or not to recommend the book—at least half of your money is wasted due to the non-productive junk stuffed into the book.

That being said, there is valuable material here.  In the first chapter Bly gives 10 tips to help you work better and save time.  Although some of the tips are common sense, some such as not being a perfectionist and not trying to be an innovator with every project are not only valuable but deal with some of the biggest time management issues many of us face.  Perfectionism and innovation is overrated most of the time. 

Do we need to be competent?  Yes.  Do we need to be thorough?  Yes.  Do we need to be perfect with every task?  No.  Nevertheless, many of us believe that perfection is the desired goal in everything we do.  That goal of perfection limits both the amount of work we can accomplish and ultimately our ability to succeed.

Likewise, many believe that being an innovator in everything they do is critical to their success.  That insistence on innovation costs more time and effort than it is worth.  We lose by trying to win.

If like many sellers you travel a lot, Bly’s chapter on saving time—and money—while traveling is also helpful.  Again, although a good many of the tips are simply common sense and any experienced traveler will have figured them out, there are still a number of ideas that can help save you time, money and energy.  If you’re a relatively new salesperson or have just begun traveling heavily, Bly’s travel tips will be particularly helpful.

The chapters on delegation and outsourcing and the use of technology to increase productivity also have some useful ideas.  Again, as with the tips on travel, these chapters will be most useful for newer sellers and sales managers.

If you’re having time management issues and need some quick ideas to help you get organized and to get your clock in order, Make Every Second Count is worth the $10 or so you’ll pay.  If you really need serious time management help, you’ll need to look elsewhere as you’ll find this work to be too basic.

September 20, 2010

Guest Article: “Four Steps to Organize Your Network for Powerful Pinging,” by Keith Ferrazzi

Filed under: Communication,sales,selling,time management — Paul McCord @ 2:23 pm
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Four Steps to Organize Your Network for Powerful Pinging
By Keith Ferrazzi

Failing to plan, as they say, is planning to fail. So it goes with outreach. Most people’s efforts are scattershot. But if you want to make the most of your network – and give the most to your network – you need to get organized.

Here’s the method I use to make maintaining my network of contacts, colleagues, and friends easier. It’s a strategy that can be adapted for use with any number of applications out there today for tracking contacts. The basic steps are: Categorize, Prioritize, Track, and Schedule Weekly Outreach.

1.    Divide your network into categories. There’s no standard method here. Create a segmentation that works for you and your objectives. Personally, I use five categories: Personal, Customers, Prospects, Important Business Associates (which includes both people I’m in business with, and people I plan to be), and Aspirational Contacts. The “personal” category I don’t include on call lists, because these are people who I’m in contact with organically; the relationship is established, and when we talk, it’s as if we’d been in touch every day.

2.    Prioritize the list to decide how often to contact each person. I’ll go down my master list (which includes all the categories) and add the numbers 1, 2, or 3 next to each name. A “1” gets contacted at least each month; a “2” gets a quarterly call or email; a “3” I try to reach once a year, probably through a group communication like a holiday card.

3.     Schedule weekly outreach. I do this by segmenting my network into call lists. In time, your master list will become too unwieldy to work from directly.Your call lists will save you time and keep your efforts focused. They can be organized by your number ratings, by geography, by industry, and so on. It’s totally flexible. I make a habit of reviewing my master list at the end of the week and crosschecking it with the activities and travel plans I have for the following week. In this way, I stay up-to-date and have my trusty lists at my side all week long.

4.    Track your outreach. Each time I reach out to a person, I like to include a very short note next to their name telling me the last time I contacted them and how. If last month I sent an e-mail saying hello to a potential customer rated “1,” this month I’ll give a call.

With a plan in place, I guarantee you’ll keep in touch with people you otherwise would have forgotten – until the moment you needed them. In other words, TOO LATE!

Keith Ferrazzi is one of the rare individuals who discovered the essential formula for making his way to the top — a powerful and balanced combination of marketing acumen and networking savvy. Both Forbes and Inc. magazines have designated him one of the world’s most “connected” individuals.  Keith is the author of the best-selling book, Never Eat Alone.  Visit his website

February 19, 2010

Guest Article: “The Seduction of Low-Hanging Fruit,” by Jill Konrath

Filed under: Closing Sales,prospecting,Qualifying Prospects,Sales Failure,Sales Process,selling,time management — Paul McCord @ 10:06 am
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The Seduction of Low-Hanging Fruit
by Jill Konrath

I remember the first time it happened. It was on a Thursday, about 4 pm, and I was worn-out after a day of cold calling. I hadn’t uncovered even one viable prospect. Enough was enough! Time to go back to the office and do some paperwork.

When the phone rang, I answered it tiredly. But by the time I hung up I was a new person. I had just talked to one hot prospect!

Her company was BUYING! Not just looking – BUYING! They needed several new systems to handle their growth. And they wanted to make a decision quickly.

“Can we come in for a demonstration,” she asked.

How could I refuse! They came in the following Monday and we spent about two hours together. We discussed their needs and I showed them several possible options. Things seemed to go really well. In parting, they asked me to call back early the next week.

Tuesday morning I left a message. Wednesday and Friday too. My calls were never returned. It wasn’t till a week later that I finally got my prospect on the phone. She thanked me for my hard work, fast service and excellent demonstration. Then, very apologetically, she told me they’d selected another vendor.

I asked “Why,” but her answer was evasive and focused on minor details. Of course, price was thrown in too – as it always is when you lose.

I’m embarrassed to tell you that this happened to me more than once. And sometimes I invested an inordinate amount of time and effort in those so-called “hot prospects.” I coordinated elaborate meetings and prepared detailed proposals. I even rearranged meetings with prospective customers who weren’t quite ready to move ahead.

Can you guess what happened? That’s right. I almost always lost the business.

Lest you think I’m not too smart, it didn’t take me too long to figure out something was wrong. My proposals, presentations and demos were fundamentally sound, so it had to be something else. But what … When I talked to the more seasoned sellers, I was cautioned on wasting my time with ‘low-hanging fruit” – in other words, companies who are ripe to buy.

They told me that many of these prospects already have made their decision, but are checking the market for two reasons: 1) To prove to higher-ups they did a thorough investigation, or 2) To leverage competitive offers to reduce their preferred vendor’s pricing.

Yikes! That explained a lot of things. Naively, I had assumed that I had a fair shot at every deal.

Learning how to ferret out those opportunities where it was worthwhile to pursue low-hanging fruit was hard. I had to be much more straightforward than I was used to being and ask questions that made me uncomfortable. But by doing this, I saved myself lots of hard work. And, I had more time to spend on prospects where I could win.

* * ******************************************************************

It’s not only individuals who are seduced by low-hanging fruit. Sometimes whole companies are sucked into these ‘get-rich-quick’ schemes.

Several years ago one of my clients introduced a new product targeted at a highly profitable niche owned by their competitor. They were late to this market and, in essence, their product was a higher-priced copycat with enhanced capabilities.

In the months preceding the launch, sales reps continually fed marketing stories about all the money being left on the table because the new product wasn’t ready. They told marketing about all the prospects who called wanting to know when their new system would be available. Everyone was drooling. So many buyers, so little time.

Their entire launch plan focused on the low-hanging fruit. Sales reps, armed with proposal templates and PowerPoint presentations highlighting competitive strengths, were chartered to go after companies on their “Hot Prospects List.”

Hard as I tried, I couldn’t convince them of the folly of this decision. The seduction was complete.

So what happened? In the six months immediately after the launch, very few systems were sold. Their only orders came from existing customers where reps had strong, long-term relationships with key decision makers. Within two years the company quietly exited this market niche because it was too costly to penetrate.

The lure of low-hanging fruit never completely goes away. The chance to make easy money is just too seductive.

I still have to caution myself when I encounter these opportunities. The worst thing about them is the wasted time that could have spent with prospects where my chances of winning were much higher.

Lessons Learned

1. In most cases, you can’t get into a sales process late and expect to win. If your competitor already has a strong relationship with the customer, they’re in the driver’s seat. They’ve likely already established decision criteria that only their company can meet.

2. Be willing to ask tough questions. If your new prospect is ready to buy, make sure you ask them:

- Who else are you looking at?

- Has your company done business with these companies before?

- Why would you consider switching?

If your prospects express strong dissatisfaction with a competitor, you might have a real opportunity. But if they’re just looking around, be wary of investing too much of your time and company’s resources trying to get the business.

3. Your best prospects will be those companies where you already have an established relationship OR where you get in early, before customers are making a decision. In the latter case, by uncovering and developing account needs, you’ll build the strong relationship you need to win the order when they’re ready to make a change.

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big  Companies, is a recognized sales strategist in the highly competitive business-to-business  market. A popular speaker at sales meetings, she helps her clients crack into  corporate accounts, speed up their sales cycle and generate demand for their offering.  Visit her website http://www.sellingtobigcompanies.com

January 7, 2010

Guest Article: “Send Me a Proposal,” by Chris Lytle

Filed under: Closing Sales,sales,selling,time management — Paul McCord @ 12:50 pm
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“Send Me a Proposal”
By Chris Lytle

Wow, they must be serious — they want to see a proposal. You’ll think differently after you check out this advice.

Here are four words you really don’t want to hear: “Send me a proposal.”

If you have made a good presentation and the prospect has a problem you can solve, then you want the prospect to write you a check. That would be a better outcome than going back to your desk and writing a proposal, wouldn’t it?

Too many salespeople stop selling as soon as a prospect says, “Send me a proposal.” They take it is a buying signal and believe they have had a “great call.” Whenever a salesperson tells me, it was a “great call,” I know instantly that he didn’t get an order.

“Send me a proposal” is either a buying signal or a stall. In either case, a prospect’s saying those four words is not a reason to abort the conversation, pack up your briefcase and drive back to your office. Not without asking a few more questions.

How I saved myself from a writing assignment
I sell sales training. I am on the phone with a person I haven’t done business with for ten years. I have just shown him my latest plan for developing his team of salespeople. He is excited about The Automatic Sales Improvement Process I have just presented to him. It’s a way for his sales managers to run more powerful sales meetings. His top sales guy is on the conference call and is also supportive.

I should add that it’s a $4860 decision, which in this prospect’s world is relatively minor.

But then, my prospect says, “Send me a proposal on this.”

“That’s not a problem,” I said. “I can lay out the terms and conditions in writing. You have seen everything I offer. Do you think it will help?”

“Yes, it definitely gives us some consistency in developing our team.”

“And you have, or can find, the money?” I asked.

“If you can give me a couple of payments in the $1,900 range, I can keep this off the corporate radar. I can sign off on it.”

“Then, do you need a proposal or should I just send an invoice?” I asked.

“Send the invoice. We’ll go ahead with it,” he said.

With three more questions, I saved myself another writing assignment, solved my prospect’s problem and closed a sale.

Have you ever written a proposal you didn’t have to write? Worse yet, have you ever worked for hours on a proposal and, then, had the prospect quit taking your calls or responding to your e-mails?

“Send me a proposal” are four words that you don’t want to hear. If you do hear them, ask enough questions so you know what they really mean.

The one that got away
I believe you learn as much from your failures as your successes. Most sales trainers don’t want to admit they don’t close them all. Let me share this failure and see if you can relate.

I guess I shocked a group of prospects recently. In the middle of a conference call, I said to them, “I give up.” They were putting up a lot resistance to what I was proposing. There were three of them and I could feel that I was merely starting to argue instead of selling or solving their problem.

“Uncle,” I said. It’s okay if you don’t want to buy this. I give up.”

It is interesting to observe what happens when you reject a prospect before they reject you. One person on the call told me I couldn’t quit, thus starting a new argument. I opted out. I felt bad that I couldn’t convince them and good that I stopped trying to force the issue.

That morning, I had called another person who was “too busy” to talk to me even though we had a calendar appointment. “I understand,’ I said. “Do you want me to quit calling you completely? It is not my intent to bother you or waste your time.” This prospect “opted in” and we have another calendar meeting in a week.

Pursuing someone who doesn’t want to be pursued is stalking. I think there are laws about that.

Have you ever rejected a prospect before they rejected you?

Have you ever asked a prospect if they wanted to “opt out” of the process?

You don’t have to close every deal to be successful. If a deal is not right for both of you, it’s okay to walk away.

Chris Lytle is a Chicago-based information entrepreneur who has cracked the code on delivering sales development ideas that move the needle. He would be happy to discuss The Automatic Sales Improvement Process with you. Call him at 773-278-2728. Or visit his site

December 30, 2009

Guest Article: “The Truth About Frogs,” by Brian Tracy

Filed under: sales,sales psychology,selling,success,time management — Paul McCord @ 10:42 am
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As we enter a new year, I thought a reminder of Brian Tracy’s advice about eating a frog every morning would be most appropriate.

The Truth About Frogs
By Brian Tracy

Mark Twain once said that if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worse things that is going to happen to you all day long. Your “frog” is your biggest, most important task, the one you are most likely to procrastinate on if you don’t do something about it.

Conquer the Hardest Task First
If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first. This is another way of saying that if you have two important tasks before you, start with the biggest, hardest, and most important task first. Discipline yourself to begin immediately and then to persist until the task is complete before you go on to something else.

Don’t Procrastinate
If you have to eat a live frog at all, it doesn’t pay to sit and look at it for very long. The key to reaching high levels of performance and productivity is to develop the lifelong habit of tackling your major task first thing each morning. You must develop the routine of “eating your frog” before you do anything else and without taking too much time to think about it.

Take Action Immediately
Successful, effective people are those who launch directly into their major tasks and then discipline themselves to work steadily and single-mindedly until those tasks are complete. “Failure to execute” is one of the biggest problems in organizations today. Many people confuse activity with accomplishment. They talk continually, hold endless meetings, and make wonderful plans, but in the final analysis, no one does the job and gets the results required.

Develop a Positive Addiction
You can actually develop a “positive addiction” to endorphins and to the feeling of enhanced clarity, confidence, and competence that they trigger. When you develop this addiction, you will, at an unconscious level, begin to organize your life in such a way that you are continually starting and completing ever more important tasks and projects. You will actually become addicted, in a very positive sense, to success and contribution.

No Shortcuts
Practice is the key to mastering any skill. Fortunately, your mind is like a muscle. It grows stronger and more capable with use. With practice, you can learn any behavior or develop any habit that you consider either desirable or necessary.

Action Exercise
What is your “frog?” What is the one task that you despise doing each day? Once you have chosen your “frog,” make it a habit to wake up every morning and do that task first.

Brian Tracy is Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, a company specializing in the training and development of individuals and organizations.  Brian’s goal is to help you achieve your personal and business goals faster and easier than you ever imagined.  Brian Tracy has consulted for more than 1,000 companies and addressed more than 4,000,000 people in 4,000 talks and seminars throughout the US, Canada and 40 other countries worldwide. As a Keynote speaker and seminar leader, he addresses more than 250,000 people each year.   Visit his website

February 10, 2009

Run Don’t Walk

Filed under: attitude,business,career development,Client Relationships,Closing Sales,cold calling,Communication,goals,Handling Prospect,Handling questions,lead generation,Leadership,management,management training,motivation,Negotiation,Networking,Niche Marketing,Personal Marketing,Presentation Skills,Problem Solving,prospecting,recruiting/hiring,Referral Selling,sales,Sales Management,Sales Process,sales psychology,Sales Resources,sales training,selling,small business,success,time management,top sales experts,trust,Word of Mouth Marketing — Paul McCord @ 8:28 am
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Today’s the day!  Can’t say much till Noon Pacific Standard Time–but it is worth the wait.

Noon today PST, the doors open – on an offer that has the potential to save you thousands of dollars, increase your sales exponentially, and perhaps best of all give you peace of mind in the midst of a downward spiraling economy, massive budget cuts and increased sales quotas!

Watch the countdown to noon here.

Best,

Paul McCord


At noon PST run, don’t walk to here

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