Southwestern Sales Talk
“Any act often repeated forms a habit; and habit allowed, steadily gains in strength. At first it may be but as a spider’s web, easily broken through, but if not resisted it soon binds us with chains of steel.”
–Tryon Edwards
“I’m getting ready to commence to begin to start to recruit.” This isn’t an exact quote, but I’ve heard several excuses from Southwestern Company student managers over the years regarding recruiting and getting their teams started. Confusion and procrastination are often just cop-outs (“cop-out”, for my international friends, means “excuse”).
Usually we know very well what needs to be done and we even know how to do it. As we’ve often said, “Recruiting/selling is simple—but it’s not easy!” Oftentimes, if we’re honest, we have to admit the “what am I supposed to do?” isn’t the real question at all.
Any young athlete knows what to do: you don’t miss practices, you sacrifice video games after school, and you drill new techniques over and over until they feel natural and automatic. Good students, too, understand that they need to hit the books no matter how they feel. They practice good study habits until they have good study habits.
Achieving your sales goals, reaching your recruitment goals, having an improved new year consists of conscientiously repeating positive actions—nothing real mysterious or confusing about it. We must be willing to exercise the discipline if we want to reap the rewards.
Today, I will welcome the patterns that lead to success, and this will lead to a very Happy New Year. As always I welcome your comments!
Ah, the real truth of GRS – it offers a lot of answers to the “What am I supposed to do!?” type questions, but it also offers, more importantly, the answers to the implicit “Will someone inspire and challenge me to do my best and help me apply what I already know?” type questions too!
Reply
Lee McCroskey Reply:
January 7th, 2010 at 11:25 pm
Yes, GRS covers both bases: the why & the how–no excuses! Interesting string of comments from you and Lucy (try to work separately from now on…).
Reply
hmm, I forgot to mention that I’ve been thinking about GRS a lot lately (because it’s next week), so I incorporated that into my comments about your post! (thanks for correcting me Lucy)
oh, and in case I’m being too ambiguous, I think this is a solid post that reminds us that “nothing works unless we do.” I also love GRS and how it inspires and challenges us to be better, and I am excited about it coming up next week!
Reply
This is the perfect time of year to address this topic! I have found that in the new year most people make resolutions that they often break i.e. eating healthy, exercising more, procrastinating less etc. If we all learn to form good habits this year and really focus on it we can achieve all of the above as it will be the base of reaching all our other goals. In this business we tend to make the simplest tasks so daunting and difficult when in order to get going they are usually the most important. Good observation, Lee!!
Reply
But, I do realize that I got off on a tangent with GRS…opps
Reply
Btw, Lucy wrote that last comment…
Reply
“Getting ready to get ready” is indeed one of the biggest causes of mediocrity for all of us Lee. It seems that at some point we just have to negotiate with our body to find the strength to take action now.
It is a great characteristic of average people to do things that are “convenient” like waiting to start until everything is in perfect order and there is perfect timing. The problem with that is that it’s the equivalent of driving across country and waiting to leave until all the lights are green!
What’s even more dangerous is the longer we wait, the more likely we are to fall victim to the Law of Diminishing Intent. With each moment that passes by, the likelihood of us starting actually decreases; not increases. One more reason why this year I’m trying to continue doing the things that others aren’t willing to do. I’m going to to Take the Stairs!
See you at GRS!
Rory Vaden
Reply
Lee McCroskey Reply:
January 7th, 2010 at 11:23 pm
Great insights as always, Rory. We’ll look forward to hearing more at GRS from you!
Reply
Great timing for this post!
I like how this blog seems to always go back to the fundamentals and helps me keep myself in check of whether I’m doing all the little things that build up to achieve great success in the end. Thanks Lee!
Reply
Lee McCroskey Reply:
January 10th, 2010 at 10:09 am
Thanks, Nici–we’ll try to keep posting useful thoughts, tidbits, strategies and tips. Keep reading!
Reply
p.s.- I also like the quote by Tryon Edwards. True stuff..
Reply
Oh the gloriousness of the Common Denominator of Success and doing what you need to do to be where you wanna be! It’s true though, we all have the best of INTENTIONS (I would italicize this if I could but caps will have to do). I know I’m more than looking forward to GRS and picking brains to hold myself even more accountable!
Reply
Awesome point!
I`d agree with Lucy about how people are willing to start new things when new years come like eating healthy, etc. which is nothing else but procrastination. And probably that`s why it hardly happens even after the new year comes – it hasn`t been a goal, but an excuse.
And usually we say we are going to do everything right, not just one thing, but quite a lot of things at once – bad habits we want to break – and again, doesn`t happen because it becomes too overwhelming.
What I think I will do is focus on my main bad habit and turn it into a good one and then go for the next one. One step at a time!
P.S. I am so so excited about coming to the GRS, haven`t been to the US one so far! yeeeey!
Reply
Lee McCroskey Reply:
January 10th, 2010 at 10:05 am
great idea–tackle one resolution at a time rather than getting overwhelmed with commitments!
Reply
This post really hits home because i tend to say stuff that helps to make mediocrity creep in on my everyday life. So this year especially more then ever i will do what i say i am going to do! Thanks for this post.
Im going to go float!
Reply
Lee McCroskey Reply:
January 20th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Do what you say you’re going to do! One of the critical success habits. Well done, Chad. You will have a good year!
Reply