For my first blog post, I asked myself “what do tireless I.T. sales professionals and business owners want to read about, anyway?”
I find that we are an open group, we like to hear about best practices, and are fairly open to new information and ideas on anything that will make us more successful (or more money).
Having been in sales for 25 years – from retail sports gear as a teen, to golf clubs and lessons in my college years, and now technology sales for the past 15 years – I’ve picked up valuable tricks of the trade.
The most important factor to enhance your performance and be successful regardless of how senior you are, or how much money you make today is: work your butt off.
One of the reasons I work where I do is because the two hardest working people at my company are the two owners. I mean it. In the past, I have worked for execs that put in 20 hours a week of work – and it’s obvious that their pulse is off the business (they think it isn’t, but their staff knows otherwise). The reality is, the speed of the pack is the speed of the leader.
If motivation is what you need..
Don’t start blaming your boss if things aren’t going well in the revenue generation department for you right now. That’s not the point. The point is to work your ass off. You are the leader of your household, your bank account, your retirement fund. It’s on you. After all, we’re all free agents in today’s world and nothing is guaranteed.
Take action
So, how is your calendar next week? Is it full? Come on, be honest. Open it right now. And don’t bother looking at your calendar this week if it isn’t full and try and add more. Meaningful Rev-Gen meetings happen with 1-3 weeks of the book date. If you don’t have an average of three meetings per day next week (15 total) it’s time to fill your calendar.
Each week, I will attempt to recommend a book, a video to watch, or provide a quote on said topic, and there may be no better quote on the planet than this one from Will Smith:
“The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is I’m not afraid to die on a treadmill. I will not be out-worked, period. You might have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, you might be sexier than me, you might be all of those things you got it on me in nine categories. But if we get on the treadmill together, there’s two things: You’re getting off first, or I’m going to die.”
It’s time to make it rain. Stir the pot.
What kind of meetings do you book and where do you focus your time? How do you avoid filling your calendar with fluffy meetings? Leave your comments below!
I try to have a balance of meetings with different people.
1. Customers who have the potential to do a lot of business with me but have not as of yet. They may be new or they may have been neglected in the past.
2. Customers who already do a lot of business with me. It’s important to keep these relationships strong. Don’t take these customers for granted.
3. Meetings with my extended sales team. The people who are part of the account team. These meetings can be about strategy or to ensure we are all on same page with respect to our mission.
Make sure these meetings are constructive. Take notes. Send immediate follow up email with a thank you and next steps.
Rinse and Repeat.
Great first blog DD.
Ryan Smye
That’s a terrific strategy Ryan! Thanks for joining the discussion!