The Sales Experiment

  • About
  • Sales Experiments
  • Content Creation Experiments
  • Social Media Experiments
  • Mindset Experiments
  • Productivity Experiments

September 28, 2014 by Brett Leave a Comment

Be Violently Consistent

The only thing that will work for everybody is consistency.

It might work for ill, or it might work for gain, but it will work.

Whatever we consistently think about and do will deliver our results. Even if we have genetic issues or some other handicap (used in the general sense), if we consistently do the right and healthy things, we’ll end up as the healthiest version of ourselves.

If we consistently give in to lazy, sloppy, and otherwise unhealthy habits, then we’ll end up with something other than the healthiest version of ourselves.

The most compelling part of the Power of Consistency (the book by Weldon Long I’ve been reading this week) is the final chapter.

Long tells the story of when he was released from prison and has to find a job. He endured rejection for months until someone finally gave him a chance. And he made the most of his chance.

Obviously, making the most of the chance was an exclamation point in the story, but I was struck with his persistence in finding a job in the first place. His prison record as a convicted felon kept slamming the door on his prospects even when a hiring manager liked him.

But he kept getting after it, day after day after day.

I know salesguys (not myself, obviously) who make 10 cold calls, get nowhere, and declare cold calling to be dead.

Long, on the other hand, endured rejection after rejection and didn’t lose hope. He kept getting after it. He was violently consistent in keeping with his goal to make a life for himself.

Be Consistent… At What?

My only struggle with this idea of consistency is knowing what to be consistent at. I’ll panic wondering if I chose the correct action to be consistent on. In truth, writing this blog everyday for 6 months is a commitment I question at moments. Especially here at 8:21 at night, knowing I have a 4:30 wake-up call.

That said, I know writing daily about success, sales, motivation, and marketing will not hurt me. I’m sure of that. And most actions can be tested for 3-4 months and will create more results than taking no action. It’s okay to be a little off on the exact action item, pivot, and keep on going.

The key, though, is violent consistency. Give the dang action a chance to work.

My Action Item Today: Write down 3 daily consistency actions to take in my two roles at work. 

Since it’s Sunday, I spent time with the family. But I did read for 30 minutes and sit down with Evernote to map out the daily actions I’ll take at work in my two main roles. I sell and I help other insurance agents develop their proposals. Both of those require some daily tending for long-term success.

I selected three things for each role. We’ll go full-bore on those for the rest of this year and do some evaluation at that time.

I also typed up some of my Prosperity Plan. It’s awfully similar to some ‘life plan’ type work I’ve done before, but it’s much, much more concise. According to Mr. Weldon Long, I must meditate on this daily, so I prefer brevity.

My Reading: I Finished The Power of Consistency: Prosperity Mindset Training for Sales and Business Professionals by Weldon Long

Long’s book is a strange one. Don’t read it unless you plan on taking action. It’s not a theoretical book at all. The ideas and concepts can be summed up relatively easily. His repetitive style lends itself, though, to beating you into submission regarding taking action on his simple plan. If you are trying to develop an action bias in your life, then I recommend reading it. And I’d also recommend reading The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, editor of Success magazine.

Both books cover similar territory and would complement each other nicely.

Until tomorrow….

—————————-

This blog is a response to Dan Miller’s unintentional challenge from his podcast on August 15, 2014: If you read or listen to 30 minutes of quality content a day, you’ll double your income. 

From September 1, 2014 through March 1, 2015, I will be doing the following:

  1. Listening or reading to 30 minutes of success, growth, business, spiritual, or other mindset-shifting, skill-sharpening content.
  2. Selecting one action item from that content (with some leeway to select an action from a previous day’s content).
  3. Doing that one action.
  4. Writing about the action or some other idea from the reading and listening of the day. 

Filed Under: Mindset Experiments, Productivity Experiments, Sales Experiments, Sunday Siesta Tagged With: consistent action, dan miller, darren hardy, mindset, persistence, power of consistency, sales, the compound effect, the power of consistency, weldon long

September 16, 2014 by Brett Leave a Comment

One Thing Every Dang Day

One Thing Every Dang Day

It seems like a wimpy way to do things: Pick a goal and select one action to take that will move you toward that goal. And then actually do that one action item.

It’s not ‘massive action’. It’s not ‘leaving out all out on the field’. It’s one thing. Every day.

But one thing a day, compounded over the year, might be 2 to 3 times more ‘things’ than you’d do otherwise.

The Habit of One Thing a Day

I’ve heard this suggestion before. Darren Hardy talks about it at length in his book The Compound Effect. Paul Castain discusses it in his Podcast (the one I listened to this morning), admonishing his listeners to learn to take action.

What I love about this suggestion to select one, maybe two, things a day is that it helps me move forward with much less frustration. As Castain points out in this episode of his Sales Playbook podcast, we all have families and jobs and clients and a variety of responsibilities. We can’t simply start taking 5-10 new actions a day without majorly upsetting the balance in our lives.

Therefore, one specific, targeted action a day is a healthy way to move toward a well-defined goal or personal self-improvement initiative.

That’s what I’ve been attempting to do through this challenge that I affectionately call the 6 Month Dan Miller Challenge.

Today’s Action: Request Castain’s “Qualities of a Rock Star Sales Person” list, rate myself on a scale of 1-10 for all 75 qualities, and identify particular weaknesses.

See for yourself where the weaknesses fall out. Now I have to decide if I’m going to focus on the weaknesses or pull out my ’10s’ and leverage my strengths. Decisions.

Disorganized, Bad at Email, Time Management Impaired, and Sales Process Challenged
Disorganized, Bad at Email, Time Management Impaired, and Sales Process Challenged – I hope nobody I know disagrees with my 9s and 10s

Today’s Second Action: Reach out to a new networking contact.

I love the little self-tests and ‘in the privacy of my own office’ projects, but if part of the goal here is to create value to receive value, then I need to find folks for whom to create value. If my main action item doesn’t involve engaging another human person, I must add at least one attempt to reach out.

My three pronged marketing plan to find places to teach, find bloggers and journalists to get to know, and engage experts in one-on-one interviews is vital to my mission.

I also will need to add more direct sales prospecting methods. But I’m sure I’ll be running into those action items soon.

Today’s Listening

I did read more of The Dip by Seth Godin, but not a whole lot more.

My main listening was The Sales Playbook Podcast (I had a lot of phone calls during my rush hour drive times today):

Episode 106 Getting Back To School With Your Selling Skills Part 3 September 11, 2014 – Paul Castain. My exercise for today came from this podcast.

Filed Under: Networking Experiments, Productivity Experiments, Sales Experiments Tagged With: consistency, dan miller, darren hardy, habits, paul castain, productivity, sales, sales skills, sales test, the compound effect, your sales playbook

Hello!

Brett the sales experimenter and the challenge accepter Brett - Sales and Marketing Experimenter. I'm a reluctant sales professional. I didn't start out my career in sales and marketing, but I've grown to enjoy it. Here I discuss marketing, sales, productivity, and mindset experiments that will hopefully yield greater results and a more deeply satisfying sales career.

Connect

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Recent Posts

  • Is Sales Your Calling?
  • I Must Be Ruthless about My Time
  • 4 Ideas for Leaders with No Leadership Position
  • 10 Reasons Why Corporate Culture Determines Sales Success
  • 3 Productivity Lessons from the Movement Marketing Summit (So Far)
Find Your Calling

Recent Posts

  • Is Sales Your Calling?
  • I Must Be Ruthless about My Time
  • 4 Ideas for Leaders with No Leadership Position
  • 10 Reasons Why Corporate Culture Determines Sales Success
  • 3 Productivity Lessons from the Movement Marketing Summit (So Far)

Copyright © 2023 · Generate Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in