Start where it matters most yourself!

During the holiday season we have the opportunity to look back and reflect on the year past. What we discover will help shape the year to come. Regardless of what we hear about a variety of industries people are still going to buy cars, houses and rent apartments. Gifts will still be under the tree and my wife and I still enjoy going out to dinner and having a drink together. Business will grind on, it may be different but it will continue and it is up to each of us to evaluate ourselves, our business, and use what we find to ensure that we are ready to take on the next year and move forward to success.

Over the past few weeks I have considered much of this as I prepare myself for the new year to come and wanted to share a couple of the main points that keep coming up. These are basic principles that have a huge impact on the incomes of sales people and yet seem easy to forget.

In sales we are self employed business owners! Our income is based strictly on our actions and our attitudes. Just like in business there are outside influences that can affect out attitude and our numbers but ultimately it is up to us to find a way to move forward successfully. We must invest in ourselves, train ourselves on basics, train on new products, track our own numbers, keep our business current, and keep it in front of our prospects to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our clients. We must have a solid business plan that guides us through the next days, weeks, months, and even years.

History repeats itself! The same problems that faced sales people or businesses twenty years ago are facing them today. Sure the names and descriptions have changed but the concepts are still the same. For example I recently picked up an older sales book (26 years old) and flipped through a few pages. I noticed a list of objections that the trainer was going to address in the following chapter. The economy is bad, I don’t have any money, I’m cutting back, and I need to think about it were just a few. These sound strangely familiar don’t they? These are things that business owners and sales people will always face, the difference is how they prepare for and deal with them.

Positive attitude applied to action is everything! In almost every sales environment that I have worked in I have seen this principle in action. The opposite side of the coin would be the good salesperson whose attitude is in the tank and they have gotten themselves caught up in company drama, gossip, or complaint mills, and regardless of skills can’t seem to get their numbers up. I have also seen countless examples of a situation where sales were down for any variety of reasons or the economy was bad and in the midst of a group of sales people who focused their attitude and effort into complaining there was one or more sales people either producing the same amount of sales as usual or producing more sales than usual. These sales people knew that if they were positive and increased their daily sales activities that their number would be fine.

We must ask ourselves this question, if there are things from last year that I am not happy with what am I going to do different this year to improve it. What people am I going to consult with and what tools will I use now that I did not before. What training will I do to ensure that when opportunities present themselves to me I am prepared? There is an old saying that rings just as true today as ever “if we keep doing what we have always done we will keep getting what we have always gotten”

Whether you want to improve your health, your income, your relationships, or any number of possible New Year resolutions I encourage you to start where it matters most, with yourself! Eliminate the reasons why you can’t and find the ways you can, and most importantly start today!