--- title: Rhythms...and Sales description: Mid way through January, and already settling into the sales rhythms of the year... image: https://www.derbymanagement.com/hs-fs/file-17763443-jpg/images/rhythm_of_business-2-resized-600.jpg --- [![Derby Management](https://www.derbymanagement.com/hs-fs/file-2618089236-png/derbymanagement/derbylogo.png) ](https://www.derbymanagement.com/)                                                  [![Social media-LI logo](https://www.derbymanagement.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Social%20media-LI%20logo.jpeg?width=26&name=Social%20media-LI%20logo.jpeg) ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackderby/)[![Social Media-Twitter ](https://www.derbymanagement.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Social%20Media-Twitter%20.jpeg?width=25&name=Social%20Media-Twitter%20.jpeg) ](https://twitter.com/derbymanagement)[![Social Media-Facebook logo](https://www.derbymanagement.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Social%20Media-Facebook%20logo.jpeg?width=27&name=Social%20Media-Facebook%20logo.jpeg)](https://www.facebook.com/derbymanagement/) **Working with you to create success in 2026!!!  ** # Derby Management's "Competitive Edge" Blog # Rhythms...and Sales Posted by [Jack Derby, Head Coach](https://www.derbymanagement.com/blog/author/jack-derby-head-coach) on Tue, Jan 22, 2013 Find me on: [Facebook ](https://www.facebook.com/managementcoach) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackderby/) [Twitter ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackderby/) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) Deep into January, and already settling into the rhythms of the year... ![Rhythms of selling](https://www.derbymanagement.com/hs-fs/file-17763443-jpg/images/rhythm_of_business-2-resized-600.jpg) - In Vermont, shovel, shovel, & shovel some more - In NH, commute back and forth in the dark...waiting for summer skies - Work has settled into a packed quarter of sales meetings & sales plans - 2013 Marketing kicks off this week with the hosting of our annual CEO Forum - A new semester of Tufts students appeared last week all eager to attack their 6 companies. ...and so it goes, as the rhythms of the seasons signal shifts into the annual rhythms of every business's planning cycle which shifts into the rhythms of that one pinpoint of customer execution in every company, and that's the individual salesperson.  Sales is where the rubber hits the proverbial road, and that person's success depends largely on their own series of well-planned and well-executed rhythms in developing... - Q1 and Q2 Key Account Plans - Pipelines filled to capacity to meet the dreaded Q4 hockey stick - Quarterly call patterns and Q1 & Q2 travel schedules All of this is pretty standard, and I would expect that anyone is Sales today is well aware that the phone is never going to ring *"just because"* or even due to someone in Marketing who just launched a [HubSpot blog ](https://www.hubspot.com)like this or a [Brainshark](http://www/brainshark.com) clickthrough in our [Toolbox](https://www.derbymanagement.com/solution-center/sales-tools/) below, or even just a [Constant Contact ](http://www.constantcontact.com)newsletter blast with a purchased list from [ZoomInfo](http://www.zoominfo.com).  All standard stuff. So the question *for this morning* is what are you doing right now-already locked into the rhythms of 2013-that's going to be noticeably different, more innovative, and will generate decidedly more business this year?  For example if your just-negotiated quota plan pushes 10% growth this year, what are you going to do personally-outside the normal rhythm of business-that's going to result in 20% more business?  "Impossible" might be your first response, and I would agree if you're stuck back in the rhythms of 2012.   ### **Standard performance...** - Work very hard - Pay attention to the planning & execution rhythms of the quarter - Continue to believe in relationship selling & work very hard - Plead with Marketing to give you "more & better" leads - Work very hard ### ***Outside The Rhythm* performance examples...** - Work smarter - Work hand in glove with Marketing on tailored campaigns just for you - Create leverage with a new strategic partner to add to your base - Embrace new apps to plug into your CRM & become *fluent* in your CRM - Meet with your top referral partners and create a trading program   ### **Break the Chains of Your Rhythm.**  ![Sitting on the bench](https://www.derbymanagement.com/hs-fs/file-18227773-jpg/images/beach_bench_in_snow-resized-600.jpg?width=219&height=211&name=beach_bench_in_snow-resized-600.jpg)Falling into a normal cycle of rhythms is comforting since it guides us throughout the year whether it's in business, in Sales specifically, in the rhythms of our personal lives, or in the rhythms of the seasons.  That's one of the reasons that we hardy (substitute "crazy") New Englanders like living around here is that we actually seem to enjoy moving from this week's -10 degree weather to 100 plus degrees every six months.  But rather than sitting on the bench at the beach in the snow (like this picture I took last week outside the NH house)* hoping* that it's going to warm up in six months, there always something that can be done about optimizing our sales planning **right now**.    ![Big Sales Ideas](https://www.derbymanagement.com/hs-fs/file-17765253-jpg/images/big_ideas2-resized-600.jpg?width=151&height=197&name=big_ideas2-resized-600.jpg)   During the balance of this week, think through, "What are **The Big Ideas** that could change the velocity of my selling rhythm this year?"  Take an hour here and there at work this week or during your commutes back and forth, and develop the one or two tactics that you could unfold by mid-February that would break the chains of your standard selling and marketing rhythms.  Not change that would shift the earth off its axis, but just enough change that you can look back a year from now and realize that thinking and planning for 2X performance was not such a big deal after all.    Success this year is all about the planning of your own selling and marketing rhythms, and understanding that what you do right now, in the critical months of January and February, set the pace for the entire year. What do you think about your own sales rhythms?  Do they work for you, or do you need an overhaul to stretch beyond and into the world of the Big Ideas? Welcome to 2013...and **Good Selling!  It's going to be a great year!** ![Signature0003 resized 600](https://www.derbymanagement.com/hs-fs/file-13639936-jpg/images/signature0003-resized-600.jpg?width=55&height=40&name=signature0003-resized-600.jpg)     Jack, Head Coach [![Linked In and Sales](https://www.derbymanagement.com/hs-fs/file-13638968-jpg/images/linkedin_logo-resized-600.jpg)](http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=56984&trk=tab_pro) ####  **For a few of our Sales Tools, CLICK on the toolbox...**   [![Jack%27s Sales Toolbox resized 600](https://www.derbymanagement.com/hs-fs/file-25615628-jpg/images/jacks_sales_toolbox-resized-600.jpg?width=184&height=70&name=jacks_sales_toolbox-resized-600.jpg)](https://www.derbymanagement.com/solution-center/sales-tools/)   Tags: [sales productivity](https://www.derbymanagement.com/blog/topic/sales-productivity), [sales coaching](https://www.derbymanagement.com/blog/topic/sales-coaching), [Sales Optimization](https://www.derbymanagement.com/blog/topic/sales-optimization), [sales](https://www.derbymanagement.com/blog/topic/sales), [sales management](https://www.derbymanagement.com/blog/topic/sales-management), [sales management effectiveness](https://www.derbymanagement.com/blog/topic/sales-management-effectiveness), [sales management coach](https://www.derbymanagement.com/blog/topic/sales-management-coach), [sales effectiveness](https://www.derbymanagement.com/blog/topic/sales-effectiveness), [sales enablement](https://www.derbymanagement.com/blog/topic/sales-enablement), [sales planning](https://www.derbymanagement.com/blog/topic/sales-planning), [sales tools](https://www.derbymanagement.com/blog/topic/sales-tools), [selling](https://www.derbymanagement.com/blog/topic/selling), [sales management training](https://www.derbymanagement.com/blog/topic/sales-management-training), [sales optomization](https://www.derbymanagement.com/blog/topic/sales-optomization), [sales training](https://www.derbymanagement.com/blog/topic/sales-training), [sales plans](https://www.derbymanagement.com/blog/topic/sales-plans) ### Subscribe Here! ### Most Popular Posts ## Share this Page [![Share on Facebook](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/facebook-24x24.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.derbymanagement.com%2Fblog%2Fbid%2F94383%2FRhythms-and-Sales%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on LinkedIn](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/linkedin-24x24.png)](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=True&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.derbymanagement.com%2Fblog%2Fbid%2F94383%2FRhythms-and-Sales%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dlinkedin) [![Share on Twitter](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/twitter-24x24.png)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.derbymanagement.com%2Fblog%2Fbid%2F94383%2FRhythms-and-Sales%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.derbymanagement.com%2Fblog%2Fbid%2F94383%2FRhythms-and-Sales%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter&source=tweetbutton&text=Rhythms...and%20Sales) [![Share on Email](https://static.hubspot.com/final/img/common/icons/social/email-24x24.png)](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.derbymanagement.com%2Fblog%2Fbid%2F94383%2FRhythms-and-Sales%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail%20&body=Check%20out%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.derbymanagement.com%2Fblog%2Fbid%2F94383%2FRhythms-and-Sales%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail) ## Recent Blog Posts