The Ghosts of Quarters Past

Today’s results aren’t the result of work that was done today, except for the short term work you focused on today. Today’s results are the result of work you did or didn’t do last quarter, the quarter before that, and maybe even a few of the quarters before those two quarters.

The ghosts that are haunting your sales results will continue to haunt you for a long time, if you don’t do something to exorcise them.

Your Apparitions

The ghosts of quarters past are made up of all of the activities that you should have taken but didn’t.

One ghost is made up of all of the prospecting work you should have done, but didn’t because you were simply too busy with your inbox. The calls you should have made turned into opportunities to others, but they are dead to you.

One ghost is made up of the dream clients that don’t know you because you have done nothing to nurture those relationships over time. They are but a shadow.

One ghost is made of the opportunities that were opened. But they died when you failed to follow up and follow through.

One ghost is made up of clients that were lost because you let a problem age longer than it should have, and the relationship has gone on to the hereafter. Of course, the ghosts remain to haunt and taunt you.

Would have. Could have. Should have. Didn’t.

Exorcising Your Ghosts

There is no magic spell that will exorcise your ghosts. It doesn’t work that way. Instead, you have do battle with them quarter after quarter, year after year, until you have done the necessary work that ends their existence.

If your pipeline isn’t what you need it to be, you banish the ghost by prospecting and opening and building opportunities that will make future quarters brighter.

The ghosts of lost dream client opportunities will always haunt you until you nurture those relationships long enough that you are known and trusted as a value creator.

You exorcise the ghosts of opened and unrealized opportunities by doing the follow up and the follow through that creates value for them at their stage of their buying cycle and moves the opportunity through your sales process.

You can only exorcise the ghosts of clients who were lost due to their long suffering through problems you didn’t address by winning new clients and never letting their problems age. You can and must do what is necessary to prevent future losses.

Your effort and your results don’t line up neatly. But they do line up accordingly.