Do Something Brag-Worthy
Well, the week is over. How’d you do?
Did you win that big dream client you have been pursuing and nurturing for the last ninety days?
Did you make the cold call to that C-level executive to schedule the appointment you need so that you can share your big (value-creating) idea with them?
Did you raise the dead by moving a long-stalled and overdue opportunity further down the pipeline? Did you obtain that commitment that finally advances the deal?
Did you make a major investment of time in your personal development and gain some new insights and new competencies that will radically improve some important aspect of your game?
Or, did you move the proverbial papers from one side of your desk to the other side of your desk?
What did you do that was brag-worthy?
Make It Brag-Worthy
At the end of each week, what can you point to as the outcome of your efforts? What have you done that you can point to as a major milestone or major progress towards your goal? What have you done that is worth bragging about?
Your time is short, and even though we are only three weeks into the quarter, the quarter will end before you know it—and in some cases, before you are ready. You have to take the actions each day that move you closer to your goals and closer to the results that you need to succeed.
Next Week’s Brag-Worthy Work Plan
Next week, start your Monday morning by taking action on the one task that, were you to achieve the outcome that you need, you would have a week worth bragging about. If you can’t achieve the outcome that you need on that task, work on the tasks that will have the most noticeable impact on your sales results.
Do the same thing Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Start each day by tackling the tasks that will produce the greatest result. This will help you to produce a brag-worthy week—even if you don’t win that big dream client this week. Your effectiveness and your efforts don’t always line up neatly. But your efforts will produce results over time.
Maybe you didn’t move the stalled deal. Instead maybe you called every target on your nurture list and scheduled one key appointment. Maybe you spent all five days prospecting and working above the funnel, qualifying five key opportunities. Maybe you spent one hour each night reading a killer sales book and gaining the insights that you need to make the actions you take next week more effective then they have ever been.
More than anyone else, you are responsible for knowing what you need to produce in the way of outcomes in order to have a brag-worthy week. And you know what actions you have to take to achieve those outcomes. The question is whether or not you are disciplined enough to take them.
Don’t let a week go by without doing something brag-worthy. Actually, make that a day; don’t let a day go by!
Conclusion
You can never allow a week to go by without producing some meaningful, brag-worthy results. Your time is too short, and your results are critical to your short and long-term success—and your company’s. Do something worth bragging about!
Questions
-
- What do you allow to prevent you from taking the actions that produce the greatest results and have the greatest impact on your sales?
-
- What are the outcomes that you could achieve that would be worth bragging about? How can you free up your time and your energy to tackle the tasks with the greatest return on time invested?
-
- What actions are you going to take next week that you can come back here and brag about?
For more on increasing your sales effectiveness, subscribe to the RSS Feed for The Sales Blog and my Email Newsletter. Follow me on Twitter, connect to me on LinkedIn, or friend me on Facebook. If I can help you or your sales organization, check out my coaching and consulting firm, B2B Sales Coach & Consultancy, email me, or call me at (614) 212-4279.
Read my interview with Tom Peters (Part One and Part Two).
Read my Blogs.com featured guest post on the Top Ten Sales blogs.
Read my monthly post on Sales Bloggers Union.
Get The Sales Blog iPhone App to read The Sales Blog and Twitter Feed on your iPhone.
