Most salespeople are idiots.
They will set pointless, unachievable new years resolutions that are not going to make any difference to their quality of life.
Even worse, they only make them once a year!
You are not “most people”.
If you’re working in sales and you’re reading a post like this – You’re smart.
You know that for a new years resolution to work you have to treat it like any other goal –
1) It must be SMART
I’m sure you’ve heard of the SMART acronym before but just a reminder –
Specific – You must identify exactly what you want
Measurable – Hitting the goal must mean crushing a number
Actionable – Every goal should start with an action verb (e.g. quit, run, finish, eliminate, etc)
Realistic – You must be stretched but you must be able to visualise it actually happening
Time-bound – Every goal needs a date associated with it
2) Only have a couple
The more goals you set the less likely they are to get done.
The more things you try and spread your focus on, the thinner your focus gets.
Pick 2-3 things that will become a priority for you this year and you will find that you have far more leverage and benefit from working on them.
Potential New Years Resolutions For Salespeople
You will likely look at this list, think “wow, yes that one would actually be useful” and then have forgotten about it in 15 minutes time.
I can’t stress enough that if you want to have not wasted 10 minutes reading this post (when you could have been closing deals) do the following –
- Get a pen
- Get a post-it note
- Read the list
- Jot down 2-3 things that would lead you to earning you more money if they were carried out on a consistent basis
- Stick the post-it note on your computer monitor
The process of writing things down has been scientifically shown to increase the chance that your new found resolution won’t go in one year and our the other.
Seeing it each morning when you sit at your computer will force it into your subconscious and it will stick with you longer than the average salesman keeps his commission.
Here we go –
- Always be on time
- Batch admin jobs together
- Schedule your day
- Get to know your best customer better
- Embrace new technology
- Get rid of as much technology as possible
- Check email once a day
- “Always be closing”
- Attend more industry/networking events
- Become more interesting
- Be more selfish with your time
- Forget about cold calling
- Try a new methods of prospecting
- Become an industry expert
- Start a blog
- Listen to the Salesman Podcast daily
- Commit to never spamming
- Focus on the biggest leverage task
- Filter your prospects
- Say thank you to your good customers
- Get a mentor
- Work hard, play harder
- Have a date to leave sales forever
Like furry animals, sales goals aren’t just for Christmas.
Make sure you’re focusing on improving at least something, a little wee bit everyday otherwise your competition will continue to move forward and you’ll be left behind.
What would you add to the list?
Let us know your new years sales resolutions in the comments below.
