WHAT IS YOUR WORKDAY TRULY LIKE ?

I'm late this week - I apologize - took a long weekend !

WHAT IS YOUR WORDAY TRULY LIKE ? How many hours ? How prepared are you ? Is there a schedule to meet (your design) ? How do you deal with interruptions ? How do you spend down time ? (like between appts. / calls ) ?

Most professional salespeople are attracted to a sales career for two reasons; potential income and flexibility. I fully realize these not only vary with the individual but the latitude afforded by your organization. But generally speaking, salespeople are afforded awesome latitude ( until results falter ). The desire to be your own boss and experience flexibility can be and has been the downfall of many sales careers. You couple that issue with this economy and you will not be headed in the right direction.

Discipline is a personal attribute that needs to be cultivated and nourished - especially now !

Getting up early, reviewing your schedule and TO DO LIST, along with getting a nourishing meal are requirements. What is early ? That's up to you but many of the powerhouse salespeople I know and coach are up at 5 AM and in bed by 9 PM almost every day. On the road by 7 AM and home by 7 PM is the norm not the exception for at least four days of the week.

Setting down Sunday evening and reviewing your upcoming week, looking at & updating the TO DO LIST, and discerning what you can do in between appts. / calls that my be proximate to where you already are is wise efforts.

Learning to utilize voice mail and making sure you check it every 90 minutes instead of answering every call will add to your productivity. Answering calls immediately can be very disruptive and change your whole plan for the day - especially when you are already focused on something important. Just learn to check voice mails every 90 minutes to 2 hours.

Needless to say, there are many other ways of managing your time and efforts. You need to put a lot of effort in that direction. There are numerous resources for improving time management and your effectiveness. The old cliche' TIME IS MONEY could not be more true for every salesperson.

Challenge yourself to grow ! Challenge yourself to more accountable to yourself and the people who rely on you to make it happen. There isn't one of us who could not be more productive, more focused, more goal oriented, and more open to change - doing things different than what we have ever done before.

Look around for success stories - they are all over the place. Get inspired ! Kick yourself in the butt !