Yesterday was a great day for family, snow (at least here in Vermont), gigabytes of pictures taken with newly unwrapped cameras and iPhones, along with way too much food.  Just what Christmas is supposed to be.  I could have done without the 350 mile rotation to “therealworld”  commuting from "vermontwinterfantasyland”, however, other than that, it was all good.

Back in Vermont, whispers on the hill are increasing about the snow coming tonight and tomorrow.  In a so-far light year of white stuff, we’re treating the expected 5 inches as a welcome blizzard with lots of excited anticipation that, of course, there could always be more…up on the hill.  None of which lessens the necessity for planning out the daily tasks of shoveling and bringing in the wood that become part of the necessary rituals of living in Vermont during the winta'. 

When I first started living here-the second time-friends would call beginning on Wednesdays to ask the proverbial question of… “Is it snowing up there?”.  In a world before the Internet and constant RSS and app feeds, we actually relied on boots on the ground and talking over land lines to learn about the weather…how quaint.   My proverbial answer to the weekly proverbial question was always the same… “It always snows here-every day, every night”.   Those were the years of 10 feet on the ground by mid-January and plowed drifts blocking out the light to the bottom floor windows.  As the winter dragged on, and the unnatural rhythm of the daily tasks of shoveling (both leaving to and coming back from work) set in, there was a directly correlation between the sharpness of my responses to the “Is it snowing?” question and the length of the season to the point where around Groundhog Day, I just stopped answering the phone at night.   Of course, that might also have had to do with not seeing the sun for a couple of months.  You gotta love living in Vermont, or else, they’ll find you in the spring walking around in the woods talking to yourself mumbling something about 11 months of winta'.

Living happily in Vermont is always about the preparation for its various six or seven seasons and the accompanying work that needs to go into dealing with the snow.  The simple tasks of preparing for it, shoveling it, driving in it and just generally moving it around, knowing at this time of year that there’s more to come, is always a daily consideration.  Throw in the daily task of restocking the wood from the wood tent to somewhere near the woodstove, and there’s always a daily rhythm to add into the schedule of one’s day.

Today, even though I’m a six generation Vermonter, I’m now regarded by the boys on the bench down at the general store as a "damn-weekend-commuting-flatlander" having moved to the NH beach a couple of years ago.  The Vermont house is the same although it’s no longer warmly referred to as “the Derby House out on Kendall Farm”; it's just blandly now relegated to its 911 location.   I guess, it could be worse...I could be grouped into the dreaded class of  "those-people-from New York". 

Since my Vermonter identity has now become a bit watered down, it's just one more reason that I need to efficiently deal with the winter seasonal tasks of living here...even if it's part time.  As we wind down 2012 over the next couple of days and charge headlong into the complexities of January, think about taking a couple of hours between now and next Wednesday to plan out exactly how you can more efficiently deal with the daily tasks of your own over-packed and over-stuffed world.

Handle emails Daily

Back in the day at the Big Corporation, I had two secretaries, one of whom did nothing other than deal with my schedules, appointments and memos (which I dictated on quaint tiny tapes) typed on a typewriter (whatever that is) and corrected by White-Out.  Interesting times, but clearly not the-good-old-days.  Today, I get 300 plus emails a day not including the spamouts.  I tackle them only at set times every day which keeps me focused on the work at hand and not becoming lost in the entertainment or the complexities of what can be a huge time sync. Another rule that I'm pretty good at is that I always clean out my Inbox every day unless I need information from someone else. 

Take the pressure off by creating your own email rules for 2013.

Update Your Sales Tools

Just like a good mechanic, mason or electrician, every quarter I take 2-3 hours out of most weekends to explore what I can add to my arsenal of Salesforce-integrated sales apps to allow me to become more customer-connected, more resource-aligned and personally more efficient.  I do the same with tools tied into our HubSpot platform.   Even though I luckily live in a world of sales process and techie partners, I find that there's nothing better than having to go through the actual hands-on process of having to learn about it myself.  Anyone interested in what I think are some of the best tools, just email me.  

Read More & Read More Consistently

I probably should have listed my best picks for Christmas gifts in an earlier blog, but one of my  secrets for staying on top of my selling and sales management game is to plan out my annual reading list right at the beginning of the year.  If the list lasts through the summer, even better, but at least it's there come January 1st. 

Then I can download directly from my Amazon Wish List whenever I'm planning my next Acela trip. 

• Updating your SellingPower.com subscription is an absolute.
• Cracking the Sales Management Code-another "must read" 
• The Challenger Sale-a different way of thinking about selling
• 52 Sales Management Tips-a bit too cute, but a good refresh
• Mastering the Complex Sales-one of my best friends.

That's enough for now since, even though it's almost the end of the week, there are still three more days to go until we close out 2012.  Plus I need to get out on the hill at dawn for an hour of "field research" before buckling down back at the office.  After all, there need to be at least one or two perks for having to live in Vermont in the winta'.

Good Selling...and have a safe Happy New Year's Eve!!!

Jack,
Head Coach

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