Whether we’re working with salespeople whose job is 100% sales or with other professionals where sales is part of their role, we often hear the phrase ‘we’re too busy’ when it comes to sales activity.
To us this can be an easy get out when it comes to making excuses for not having completed activity to which we’ve committed. Indeed, I think we’ve used it @HawthornBG in the past!
So what is this saying? Do we think that sales activity is unimportant? Did we not fancy doing the activity? Did we simply not get around to it?
It’s probably one of these or any number of other reasons, but the important thing is that we didn’t do the activity that we committed to completing.
I had the pleasure last week of observing my good friend and colleague Paul Smith from Head Coach UK deliver his presentation ‘The Winning Edge’. One of Paul’s main pieces of advice for professional people is to:
‘Prioritise your big rocks’
What does this mean?
Well, in any job we have major things that we have to do, we have other things of medium importance and others still that are of less importance.
You can liken the major things to rocks, the medium tasks to pebbles and the less important things to sand. The point being that if you focus on completing your big rocks the pebbles and sand will fall (get done) around them.
So here’s the big question – Is sales activity a big rock for you?
If it is, don’t let the pebbles and sand get in the way. Don’t let minor tasks of lesser importance stop you from achieving your goal – your ‘big rock’!
If sales activity isn’t a big rock for you, don’t be surprised if you rarely get it done.
High performers prioritise their big rocks. As Paul Smith says ‘The goal is the destination, but it’s all about the journey. You will undertake two categories of activity on this journey. Those that help your progress and those that don’t!’