We all want success in our business and our lives for that matter. But success means different things to different people. For many of us who have been impacted by hurricanes, floods and fire recently, we may actually feel making it through the day is a success story (and it is).
What got me to thinking about this was a keynote speaker at a luncheon the other day whose titled talk was “Secret to Success.” He spoke about his revelation that success for most lies in the fact that you form the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do. To him, to be successful you are going to have to do some things that may not come natural to you.
It got me to thinking about the things I don’t like to do and what I can change to make my days more successful.
What’s Holding You Back?
I’m actually a pretty disciplined individual but with that said, there are still things I can procrastinate about. Who likes billing or cold calling, for instance? I’m sure we all have those tasks that stay on the “to do” list forever, until we realize we are never going to do them and just cross them off.
In sales, we may hesitate to pick up the phone because we don’t like to call people who don’t want to talk to us or may not want to buy from us. But, that’s what successful salespeople do. They call. They have a set schedule, they pick up the phone, and they make the call.
Make Sales Goals a Regular Habit
I was speaking with someone the other day who set up a very ambitious goal of setting three sales call meetings a day. She was so overwhelmed by the goal that she never picked up the phone to even set up the appointments. She felt she couldn’t succeed so why try. So, the more we talked the more she realized that she needed to set a new goal. She decided that getting five sales call meetings a week would be a great start. And you know what? She succeeded the first week.
It’s not the fact that she liked making the calls all of a sudden. It was the fact that if she accomplished that goal then she would accomplish her larger goal of growing her business. She realized even more that the calls were the means to an end. And that end was growing her business which would put more money in her pocket so she could afford to send her children to college.
What is Your Motivation?
That is the bottom-line. What is your motivation for success? For some it’s money; for some it’s the prestige or the title; for some it’s being able to take care of family or just to support themselves.
If your motivation isn’t strong enough to make you adopt a new habit, then maybe it’s the wrong motivation. As the speaker said, “It can be easier to adjust ourselves to the hardships of a poor living than it is to adjust ourselves to the hardships of making a better one.”
Four Categories of Business Habits
We all have habits in our business and they generally fit into one of four categories:
• Prospecting habits
• Calling habits
• Selling habits
• Working habits
For instance, if you don’t deliberately form the habit of prospecting on a regular basis, then you have unconsciously formed the habit of limiting your sales to people who already purchase from you. And thus, you have limited your success.
As we come to the end of another year, it may be time to take a look at your motivation for your success and possibly set new goals. And once that decision is made it may be time to establish new habits, to try something new. Because, if you don’t form new habits then the cycle of your previously created habits will continue.
It’s an interesting concept and as the speaker said in closing, “If you continue the new habit each morning and keep at it each day, you will finally wake up some morning and realize that you don’t have to think it about; you just do it.”
Danette Gossett is the founder of Gossett Marketing, co-founder of Promotions Rescource LLC and co-author of the best-selling book “Transform” with Brian Tracy. Danette utilizes her more than 30 years of advertising agency and corporate marketing experience to develop effective promotional campaigns and products for her clients. Visit GossettMktg.com or SalesPromo.org and follow us on twitter @MarketngTidbits.