The quarter's over. Congratulations for making it through one of the most difficult periods of the year. To me, it's always that time of year when there are more distractions of both my and my customers' time because of the natural rhythm of the summa', vacations and travel.
A turn of the digital page in the ol' calendar, plus a look out the window tells us one thing...
WINTA's COMIN'
Here in Vermont this morning. Crisp temps down in the 40's. And rain unfortunately, but the color is still exploding everywhere. Clearly "The Peak Weekend" of the season...but, for those leaf peepers coming for the long weekend not to worry, there'll be plenty left, and also plenty of good ol' boys down at the general store ready to sell you everything from maple syrup, to pictures of bears, moose...and cows, of course.
And after this next week, the sharp reality of winter in Vermont, and of the 4th quarter in our businesses, sets in. There's not much that's quaint, pretty or memorable about Vermont in November. Just one tough month of grey and cold to get through before the holidays. Not so, in our companies since the 4th quarter can be the most exciting and rewarding time of the year.
- Customers often want to use their budgets before the end of the year
- There's the excitement of planning new budgets for 2015
- There's a natural end-of-the-year-push built into the rhythm of sales
ASSUMING THAT YOU HAVE ENOUGH TIME
When we assess hundreds and hundreds of reps each year, there are only two critical differentiators between the highly successful AAA ballplayers in the BIGS and the B level players down in the minors.
All "pretty good" players, but...
the AAA players...
- Manage their time relentlessly on a monthly basis
- Consistently deliver a flawless Value Proposition
- Try to manage their time looking out for the entire quarter
- Are too focused on their product, services and themselves
Here's a couple of hints to focus on this coming week. The text below is adapted from a very helpful HBR blog this week.
- Core duties: Day-to-day tasks that make up the crux of your job.
- Sales specific: Direct time on the phone or F2F with customers.
- Managing people: Time with direct reports. Time in project teams. Time in meetings in total and specifically in general management meetings including time with your boss.
- Administrative tasks: Necessary tasks you perform each day – emails, CRM entry, creating reports for you, for management. If you are in Sales, note the account planning time that you spend each week.
- Crises and fires: Interruptions. Urgent matters. Unplanned meetings.
- Travel
The intent here is to take a look at the hashmarked results that you've collected in a spreadsheet after a good solid week-ideally two-and identify, in broad terms, where you need to (1) improve your skills and (2) strengthen your ability to say "NO" to the time wasters.
Sales is a tough enough game, and, at best, the average salesperson spends only 30% of their time actual selling. With no more than 50 good days left in the year before the cold of Winta' settles in and everyone hunkers down in January, being super diligent and managing the only asset that you can really manage is absolutely critical to your success this quarter.
Again, congratulations on closing the books this quarter! Just 50 more days
Good Selling...and Good Planning!
Head Coach
Derby Management...for 25 years
Sales & Marketing Productivity Experts
Business & Strategy Planning Specialists
Box 171322, Boston, MA 02117
617-292-7101
Jack's Cell: 617-504-4222
