I listened to a sermon the other day and they were talking about “Your Life Journey” and used the example of the migration of animals. The message was not business related, but it did ring home as we all work hard, put in long hours and let’s face it: we work in a high pace, sometimes high stress with high expectations environment.
Most people are not cut out for what we do (Sales & Leadership), and it truly takes a special person with the proper drive and motivation to be successful. So, as I get into this, I want you to think about the following questions and what your answers are: What motivates you to be successful, to put in the time and effort it takes be successful in sales? How do you measure your own success and how are you planning on getting there?
The speaker said there are four parts to a journey: 1.) Movement 2.) Direction 3.) Purpose and 4.) Goal. I added a fifth, which I thought was important too.
- Movement: Where are you trying to get to? What are you moving towards? What are you drawn to? All questions you need to ask yourself as you wake up every day knowing what it will take to make it a successful day. Also, understand that what you are moving towards does not just have to be a sales goal. It could be about earning a promotion, becoming a mentor for new reps, giving back to charity or your community. Maybe it is buying a new house for your family, college funding for your kids. What are you moving towards?
- Direction: How are you going to get there? What does the road look like and what kind of “vehicle” will you build to get you there? Now if it is as simple as a sales goal then we already know what that road looks like. Five deals a month on average, 210 points per day, etc.…If you do that and more then you should blow through any sales goal you want. (side note, I am working on creating an updated roadmap here. As you can see, it is based in numbers so you know the amount of activity success needs) But again, your goals may be more than just sales and raising income. Again, create your road, create your vehicle and start holding yourself accountable. Also, hold your managers accountable to help you by sharing your goals with them and letting them know how they can help.
- Purpose: What is your driving force that has you heading towards your goals to reach and exceed them? Is it to take care of your family? You want to reach retirement by a certain age? To give back to your community? You want to become CEO one day? It is great to have goals and plan how to get there but if you do not know the “why” of it all, your personal motivation, then what will drive you most when you hit a bump in the road to overcome it? What will push you when you are tired and want to stop instead of finding the will to push through the so-called pain? It doesn’t matter what the purpose for you is, it just matters that you know what it is. Do you know what it is?
- Goals: We talked about movement, direction and purpose and these are the steps that will drive you to successfully reach your goals. Is your goal to be #1 rep $50K in NAR for 2017? Get that promotion, mentor a new rep and helping them reach their quota? Set up a new charity? Again, it does not matter what they are but just know what they are. This is of paramount importance because this keeps you focused on where you are trying to go. This is how you know what to monitor and track, so you know you are still headed in the right direction. And, you need to monitor and track every quarter, tracking the progress and to determine if you are staying in your vehicle and staying on the road you want to be on to get to the destination you are trying to get to.
- Accountability of Yourself: You must review and hold yourself accountable throughout the year. It is great to have this plan, but you need to hold yourself accountable and review your progress constantly. Sit down with your managers and put a plan together, constantly revisit that plan, hold yourself accountable by sharing your plan with others and be open and honest with yourself on your progress.
Lastly, why do we fail? Some were off to a hot start already, maybe already quota for the year but why might some of you still fail to reach your goals this year? Easy, you get happy, you get complacent thinking I got this year wrapped up. We still have 3 months left! I used to tell my son’s all-star basketball team that I coached, “always play like your down one basket and the clock is running out. Don’t look at the scoreboard and get happy with a lead.” Keep doing what got you off to a hot start and make every year the best year ever for you! For those that are not off to a good start then again ask yourself why not? It could be many reasons. Maybe you are working hard but need to refocus your energy, maybe you need to just focus and be honest with yourself and the true effort you are putting in. No matter what it is, remember we still have about 3 months left. It is never too late to get focused, to recalibrate and make your goals a reality!
So, I ask you one last time: What motivates you to be successful, to put in the time and effort it takes be successful in sales, and more importantly in life? How do you measure your own success and how are you planning on getting there?