–Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968)
American civil rights leader
Nobel Peace Prize winner

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Sales inspiration…

Martin Luther King lived for just over 39 years.

He traveled over six million miles, spoke on over 2500 occasions, became an icon for civil rights, was the youngest Time magazine Man of the Year (35), and won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize.

When you have some time (outside the money hours or on a well-earned break), enjoy his "I Have a Dream" speech, read his Nobel Prize acceptance, or listen to this quick audio clip (love this) from his Drum Major Instinct sermon for a little inspiration (full text of the speech).

(This Sunday is the 42nd anniversary of King’s assassination.)

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Pick up new printable calendars and wallpapers for the 2nd quarter (begins tomorrow).

Two sales days are 10% of your month.

To have only two slow days each month is equivalent to having more than one full month of slow days each year.

Sales point…

Every moment of every salesday matters. These are your money hours.* Hesitation for a better sales day of the week or a time when you’re feeling more up to the task will have a long-term effect on your ultimate sales results (and discipline).

It’s this serious. Every salesday is a salesday regardless of circumstances. Once gone, it’s gone forever.

Over the next few weeks, begin your quest for complete sales time discipline regardless of environment… regardless of circumstances. Put the “Do Not Disturb” button on your money hours and on your sales discipline.

Time management is simple. Do what it is you know must be done.

(SalesTough™ principle #1)

Now go sell something.~>

*money hours: the hours in a sales day where one can talk with prospects and/ or customers. The most valuable hours of the day.

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(click here for a printable sales reminder)

(click here for a printable sales reminder)

–Voltaire (1694–1778)
French writer, essayist and philosopher

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Sales brilliance…

Are you sitting on brilliance (waiting for a better day, week, month, year, time to make the call)?

Be careful to invest your money hours wisely. Time is the only thing you can never get back.

Sure… There are lottery winners. But that’s not the way to bet.

(Here’s 3 minutes with Malcolm Gladwell – author of "Outliers: The Story of Success" – talking about the work that goes into the "overnight success".)

You’d likely…

• contribute more
• waste less time ramping back up
• serve customers better (internally and externally)
• find more customers
• come up with more ideas
• plan better
• be less frustrated and stressed
• help others focus more (by interrupting them less)
• make more money (for everyone… including you)

Nothing’s guaranteed, of course. But it’s a better bet. (And in the long run, you’ll enjoy more.)

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4 ways to knock out the bulk of distractions

1. Establish focus hours with your team (or company-wide) – chunks of time each day where everyone will allow everyone else to focus (that includes you). No inter-office communications unless it truly can’t wait. At JustSell, ours are from 9 am – 11 am and 2 pm – 4 pm (4 total hours a day). You’ll make mistakes occasionally and break focus hours but with commitment and reinforcement, everyone will benefit. If you’re really SalesTough, in order to minimize outside distractions, let your family and friends know your focus hours.
2. Turn off email alerts and commit to checking it at the most minimal level you feel is possible for your particular sales world without having a negative impact on service. If you’re SalesTough, most of your inbound emails are probably important but still don’t need attention for at least an hour (if not longer). Be truthful with yourself and set your interval so everyone wins. If you can set only two or three specific times a day to respond to email, do it.
3. Turn off instant messaging services unless your work absolutely requires it to get the job done. Having to phone someone or talk with them live (by visiting them) will make you more aware and respectful of someone else’s time (and yours).
4. Avoid the web during money hours unless you absolutely need it for your work. The distractions are endlessly wonderful for those who’d prefer to avoid making things happen (which of course, isn’t your goal). If you must open a browser during the money hours (or focus hours), make sure your home page is something that doesn’t have the potential to encourage you down destruction distraction road (e.g., news or email sites, personalized pages, etc.). Search and discover outside your money hours or at lunch.

Managers: Depending on your team, some or all of these ideas might not go over well (we know firsthand). Involving people in a discussion, asking them for ideas on how to improve internal focus and minimize distractions, might be a good first step. Also, consistently helping people remember the purpose behind what it is you do for customers can help gain commitment to your reasons for focusing.

Questions? Email Sam Parker.

–E.B. White (1899–1985)
American writer

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Sales list…

What are the most common "drag you down, get in the way of success" thoughts?

• Defeatist (accepting, expecting, or being resigned to defeat)
• Cynical (contemptuously distrustful of human nature and motives)
• Vindictive (seeking revenge)
• Blame/ Fault (who cares? what are we going to do now?)
• Wishful (do what you can to influence the deal and keep moving)
• Self-pity (get over yourself… complain less… especially to yourself)

Get the complete list (5 more) and a printable reminder.

(Some definitions provided by Merriam-Webster. Most popular thoughts provided by your JustSell team. They’re not our thoughts, you understand. We have friends with these thoughts.)

“Am I working like someone who makes $X thousand a year… someone who makes roughly $Y every sales hour of the day?”

Are you valuing your time at that level?

(If not, who will?)

• $75,000   = $37 every sales hour
• $100,000 = $50 every sales hour (almost $1 a minute)
• $120,000 = $60 every sales hour (a dollar a minute)
• $150,000 = $75 every sales hour
• $200,000 = $100 every sales hour
• $250,000 = $125 every sales hour (more than $2 a minute)

 Greater than $250,000 = You probably don’t need the reminder. (“Rich enough not to waste time.”)

Now go sell something.~>

–Henry Dumas (1934–1968)
American writer and poet

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Sales thought…

Something important – something very important – a thought on starting and finishing…

Three quick questions…

1. Of the 20 or so sales days each month, how many times do you start earlier than is expected of you?
2. How many times do you work later than is expected of you?
3. How many times are you early for an appointment?

Starting early and going long count. Being prompt matters. The impact on you in terms of how it’s viewed by your executive team, management team, peers, subordinates, prospects, and customers can be tremendous – tremendously positive or tremendously negative.

On time – starting, leaving, or arriving – is simply what’s expected.

To be early and go long sends a message of purpose, commitment, and respect – to others and yourself – and assures better results over time. To be even one minute late, or rarely be challenged ending your day on time, sends a completely different message.

Emerson suggested, “Activity is contagious.”

Have an impact on everyone. Enjoy great results.

Embrace the early start and go long. Be SalesTough.

–Golda Meir (1898–1978)
4th prime minister of Israel

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Sales tool…

Time is money – money for you, revenue for your company.

And we all have the same amount of it. Same days in a month, hours in a day, and minutes in an hour for everyone. It just seems to work better for some than others.

Pick up your time management checklist from JustSell and become “rich enough not to waste time.”

“Hi, you’ve reached Benjamin Button. To leave a message immediately, please press the star button now. If you really love my the sound of my voice and have time and cell phone minutes to burn, please leave your message after the ridiculously long message that follows this message. And now, I’d like to read you a sales poem…”
 
We suggest using only the first two sentences. The keys are…

• Verizon: press the star button (*)
• Sprint & AT&T: press the number one (1)
• T-Mobile: press the pound button (#)

For you… If you know the carrier of the person you’re calling you can hit the appropriate key the moment their voice mail introduction begins and go straight to the tone.

It’s beautiful. Pure saleslove.

–Theophrastus (372 BC–287 BC)
Greek philosopher

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Sales love…

To save your prospects, customers, and colleagues time (and money) when they reach your cell phone’s voice mail introduction, mention in your greeting that they can immediately leave a message by hitting your carrier’s particular key for getting straight to “the tone”.

“Hi, you’ve reached Benjamin Button. To leave a message immediately, please press the star button now. If you really love the sound of my voice and have time and cell phone minutes to burn, please leave your message after the ridiculously long message that follows this message. And now, I’d like to read you a sales poem…”

We suggest using only the first two sentences. The keys are…

• Verizon: press the star button (*)
• Sprint & AT&T: press the number one (1)
• T-Mobile: press the pound button (#)

For you… If you know the carrier of the person you’re calling you can hit the appropriate key the moment their voice mail introduction begins and go straight to the tone.

It’s beautiful. Pure saleslove.