Tips For Success In 2016

1. Forget Resolutions - Make a Plan. Nobody accomplishes anything of significance by trying to do it all at once. Most people want to magically move from point A to point Z, but don't even have an outline of a plan to get from point A to point B, and from point B to point C and so on. While it's easy to Picture Yourself & the Life You Want, the difficult part is actually getting there. Break lofty goals up into manageable steps and your likelihood of success increases tenfold.
Sales people may make the mistake of not having a good plan for growing an existing account, and at the same time finding new clients. These things need to be going on concurrently within a well-developed plan.

2. Focus on Your Strengths. Backsliding is not failure. It's easy to see what we haven't accomplished, rather than the steps that we have taken. Any effort or energy you give to what you haven't accomplished will only slow you down. Celebrate every accomplishment, keep the momentum, and look toward the future. Make sure that you maximize your strengths and minimize weaknesses.
If you are a good networker, then spend more time in that environment looking for leads and referrals. If you are a more technical type of sales rep, then find interesting, relevant white papers or case studies to help clients gain an understanding of how you can help them with their business objectives.

3. Learn Something New. There is no better way to continually evolve as a human being than to make a commitment to life-long learning. I meet people everyday that act like they have nothing more to learn. Even the biggest 'know-it-all' doesn't know everything. Education paves a pathway to success. I believe you can never be too educated. This year, take a class about something of interest to you, be it personal or career oriented - you've probably been meaning to but haven't gotten around to it. If not this year, then when?
Make sure you are up to speed on all of the new technology, industry updates, professional best practices, and evolving business dynamics so that you are well versed to provide your clients with the most strategic solutions that will help their business.

4. Spend Time with Positive People. Surround yourself with people who support your goals and endeavors. Spending time with people that bring us down or focus on the negative side of things challenges our focus and positive attitude - both of which are essential to achieving success.
Are you observing the successful people around you? Can you spot the winners from the want-to-bees, the talkers from the doers, the victims from the victorious? You can learn so much from your peers and mentors!

Focus Point

56. Process your data.

Sometimes my clients fall into complacency because they have all the latest gadgets, from PDA's to cell phones. But even with all of the resources that are at our disposal, I often find people wasting precious prime selling time to search for a piece of paper with a new prospect's phone number or e-mail address.

Is your desk completely organized and neat? Many of us let our desktops become cluttered with a clutter of paperwork that includes old mail, receipts, client folders, checkbooks, CD's and diskettes, etc.

Sound familiar?

If you want a stopgap measure to help you sort through this chaos, buy some average paper tablets like your kids use in school - the best ones are big (8.5 x 11 inches). Just open the cover up and start with the first page. For a week, write down all your phone notes and other information in the tablet.

At the end of the week, if you've proceeded sequentially, you'll have all your notes in one place. You won't have any more panic attacks - because you'll know where your data is.

Naturally, the better way to go is to use one of the recommended sales software programs. Log your client information directly into that program as you receive it. However, human beings often don't do what is best for them. Many of us still haven't figured out how to completely use our new cell phones, let alone the old CD players that are still locked on 12:00 at home.

So use your paper tablet and stop using the backs of those unopened mail envelopes on your desk to record the important follow-up data you'll be needing, say, to close a sale in the next few days. Notebooks are simple, and there is still something to be said for the old "K.I.S.S." method!