SHAKE It Up This Year!

There comes a time in every sale professional’s life that they get into cruise control. They simply get into a mode of operation that finds them grinding through the same activities day in and day out. This may be something that they have gotten into consciously or on purpose but more often it is a state at which they have arrived quite by accident.

There are several reasons that one gets into this Comfort Zone. Maybe they are happy where they are. (Or at least that is what they say) Maybe they have too much going on to even think about trying something new. (Or at least that’s what they think--activity rarely is the same as productivity!) Maybe they are coming off a great sales month and have decided to “take a breather” to enjoy their success. (This is a killer! It's also fairly rare today due to the state of the economy.) Perhaps they have fallen into a routine of meeting management’s minimum activity requirements. (“Hey, it's a tough time....I made my calls and filed my reports!”) Perhaps they feel that trying something new will increase their chances of failure and will cause more work for them. Maybe they are too busy taking care of customers in a service role. Maybe they are simply tired, lazy, or misdirected. Maybe they just suck!

Whatever the reason, or excuse, the dreaded Comfort Zone is a dangerous place for a sales professional to be. It is a place where Maintenance is the goal and Growth is the stranger. It is the place where Goals have been forgotten and Dreams have been eroded. This is no place for a growth oriented sales professional to be!

Is a Comfort Zone a bad thing? I guess that depends upon who you are and what it is that you want out of your career and your life. Most people get into the profession of selling based upon entering a profession with an earning potential that is without limitations. The top performers among all sales professionals in the marketplace today are consistently looking for ways to improve and grow their results. And even they can sometimes find themselves in cruise control mode! No good!

What need to happen to SNAP out of this Comfort Zone?

You need to S.H.A.K.E. things up a bit!

Let's break it down:

S-Set or Revisit Your Goals for the Year
Each and every year it is imperative that salespeople take the time to set their goals for the upcoming year. Why? We are in a career that necessitates self discipline, prioritization, and committed action in many areas. Often, there is not a boss breathing down our neck or a time-clock to punch to ensure that we are “staying the course.” Therefore, we must decide what it is that we want to accomplish each year in our business and personal lives. Our goals must be clear and concise rather than wandering and vague. They must be written down and have deadlines (or lifelines-if you prefer) assigned to them.
If you find yourself working within your Comfort Zone, you need to re-visit these goals. You need to remind yourself what it is that you really want/need to accomplish. Often your sales efforts are the means by which you accomplish many of your finaincial goals. And often, accomplishing your financial goals allows you to attain many of your perosnal goals. (Although money doesn't necessarily buy happiness, it certainly helps you get and do things that can make you happy!) There is an ancient Eastern proverb that says something like, “When one is aware of the why, they can deal with almost any of the how.” So, refocus on what you set your sights on this year so that you can get back to the business of working towards the goal instead of just working.

H-Have a Solid Game Plan
Before you go rushing off towards a new (or re-committed to) goal, you must first have a clear plan of what to do—as well as what NOT to do. Think of all of the things that need to occur in order to accomplish the goal. What needs to happen? What needs to happen this month, next month, next quarter, etc. What needs to “go on the back-burner?
Organize your list into a plan by priority and sequence. Understand that there will be obstacles. (What could go wrong?) Understand that every plan will have potential unforeseen roadblocks that will come up. (What might come up?) Try your best to identify as many of them as you can beforehand (pre-call preparation) with a contingency plan to work your way through them or around them. No excuses, no blame! If there is a game plan (a track on which to run) than you have a much better shot at accomplishing what it is that you set out to do.

A-Arrive Earlier to the Game
In reading a recent article in INC. Magazine about success traits of some of the nation’s top executives, one of the common things that all of them shared was they got an early start every day. Most of them were up well before 5:00am and “in the chair” before most of their competition. In the game of life, you have very few opportunities to “gather an edge” over the competition. The competition that we are discussing in this article is the Comfort Zone—the competition for your success!So let's set a commitment right now to get your butt out of bed earlier than usual for the next 60 days! If you are normally just getting up at 7:00am, then immediately re-set your alarm clock to “join the 5 o’clock club!” The things that you can accomplish or the way that you can prepare in those “Golden 120” minutes between 5:00am and 7:00am will snap you out of your Comfort Zone and into your Action Zone! Think about all of the things you can accomplish. Sleeping in is for losers....and your competition!

K-Kick up Some New Activity
I am often reminded of an old commercial for Dunkin’ Donuts that highlighted the donut maker waking up every morning, day-in and day-out, with the same phrase, “Time to make the donuts…” Every day, he went about the exact same routine of waking up at the same time and mindlessly getting to work to crank out dozens and dozens of donuts. I witness way too many sales professionals falling into the same trap. They get up each day and mindlessly go through a set of prescribed motions designed to identify, capture and engage new customers while, at the same time taking care of existing customers. The find themselves often times in a rut. (Which has been described as a grave with the ends kicked out!)
It’s time to Kick up some new ACTIVITY. In order to get out of the Comfort Zone rut, we need to take a long hard look (hell, make it a short glance) at the myriad of things that we do each and every day and ask ourselves if each one produces the results desired. IT just takes some THOUGHT. (BTW, that's why so few people do it!) Next, we need to identify 5 NEW activities that we can begin right now that will re-ignite our creative flames, get us out into the limelight (in front of our customers), and shake things up! Ideas: Start and post onece per week to a blog. Send 10 handwritten notes per week. Invite 10 customers that have left back to you through a cool new invitiation. Attend some new networking events. Wite a speech for the local chamber and deliver it. Get creative--do something new. Be bold--get crazy. Why not?


E-Enjoy the Results of Your Work!
When all is said and done; when you have recommitted to your goals for the year, built and taken action on a solid plan to accomplish those goals, gotten into the habit of arriving earlier to the game, and kicked up some new focused activity, the results will be apparent! It is very important to celebrate your re-birth to the land of the committed. Enjoy the fruits of your re-found efforts! Hey, in the end, this is a game. This is a journey. As I said however, it is you who draws the map for the journey. If you know the destination and can lay out a route to get there, you will have a much better shot of changing course when you take the occasional exit off the Comfort Zone freeway.

Visit my website at www.GerryLayo.com for more information and articles on how to Shake It Up as a sales pro!