One of the most common causes of average summers in the Southwestern Internship program is an average belief level. If someone views themselves as a 3.0 student who gives 3.0 effort in college, it is highly unlikely they will graduate with a GPA above a 3.0. Our own limiting view of ourselves allowed us to work less, rationalize less than our best, and settle for the results we had predetermined as our “potential”. The same happens in sales.

Going into my second summer with Southwestern I wanted to hit some pretty high goals. I came off a summer where I had sold about 2,600 units and made $13,000. In a second summer I really wanted to sell 6,000 units. (This goal would have been about 7,000 with the current unit values that have been raised on products since my second summer.) This goal scared the heck out me. In fact in the org I was in the previous summer none of the student managers had sold that many books. Why should I be able to?

This was the point in the story where I allowed the math major side of me to take over. This part may bore you, but I promise it is worth reading. There are three components that go into how many units you will sell this summer. Your total presentations for the summer, your closing %, and your average package size. I know that this is nothing new to most of you. What really helped me turn the corner on my own belief level was figuring out what I felt confident I could accomplish in each of these three areas.

Looking back at my previous summer I saw at I closed 30% of my presentations in summer 1.  I had an average package of around 13. My average presentations were about 10 a day. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I could have my package size raise to at least 15 (really low for a student manager) and I was confident I would not get worse at selling and hopefully would get slightly better up to 33%. So if one in three families bought 15 units, every one of my presentations was worth 5 units. If I needed to sell 500 units a week to hit 6,000, I just needed to figure out how to get 16 presentations a day and 20 on Saturday to make 100 for the week.

From that point forward I dove all the way in on my approach. I practiced with managers on campus. I trained with my team. I video taped my approach to see what I was actually doing. I practiced with my DSM. I knew that 100 presentations a week was all I needed to focus on.The rest of the semester I didn’t care at all about 6,000. All I cared about was 100, 15, and 33%. I was confident I could do these three and I knew what they resulted in. I posted these numbers in my room, they were on the background of my computer, and I doodled them in class. By the time the summer rolled around these numbers were hard wired. When I left each house in the summer I said to myself, “Cool, that will be 5 units at the end of my summer.”. It made me focus on nothing but the controllables and kept me from getting too high or too low.

I ended up only have 11 1/2 weeks my second summer and I delivered 5,752 units. 2 units off from being EXACTLY 500 a week. I also sold an average of 5.02 units per presentation. I don’t think this was purely by chance.

So forget about all of your preconceived notions in regards to “what you are capable of” in terms of units. Instead sit down with your manager and figure out what you are capable of in regards to the three key components. Get their advice on how to increase in the area you most need to increase in. Once you come up with numbers you are confident in and a game plan to improve pre-summer, dive in!

The end result will be much better than you ever thought possible.

–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!

            In reality we all have points in our lives when we are so on that our “weaknesses” are barely noticeable or are completely non-existent.  Our strengths are all that we see.  We are in the zone.  And then there are some points in our lives where we are just off.  At these times we have no discernable strengths and our weaknesses seem overpowering!  So trying to think through your weaknesses and fix them, or attempting to isolate your strengths and maximize them, can often times be a very frustrating endeavor.  When we are in the zone we feel like we have arrived!  “I did it!  I conquered my weaknesses!”  Then we later get in a funk and the logical conclusion we come to is, “I have accomplished nothing.  I really thought I was getting better this time!”  Instead of isolating what our strengths and weaknesses are, a far more productive exercise is to spend some time answering the following questions:

1)      What am I like when I am on?

2)      What am I like when I am off?

3)      What are my habits when I am on?

4)      What are my habits when I am off?

The first thing that happens after really spending time diving into this exercise is that you will begin to notice when you start to be “off” and will no longer continue to think thoughts that go something like, “There I go again.  I always do that!”  The biggest obstacle most people face in living the life they want to live is taking ownership of their “weaknesses”.  People think that the things they dislike about themselves are somehow hardwired into their DNA.  That isn’t you!  That is you when you are off.  This is empowering because it allows you to take a step back and think through questions 3 and 4.  What have I been doing recently?  What have I not been doing?  For me personally, if I work out first thing in the morning and read a motivational book before breakfast, it is going to be a great day!  If my thoughts are primarily focused on others or focused on long term goals then I am loving life.  I absolutely love my job if I am spending most of my time in front of people, truly listening, and learning new things from every person I meet.  If I am spending a ton of mental energy focused on trivial problems or manifesting negative situations in my mind that “may” unfold; I am irritable, easily frustrated, and generally don’t enjoy life.  This is true in both my career and family life.  This knowledge is power.

      So catch yourself.  Notice when you are starting to slip.  However, it takes more than simply catching yourself in a destructive pattern.  You have to take immediate action!  Get back to the habits that lead to the best version of you.  Go do the things that give you confidence and lead to you loving life.  This seems obvious, and yet the truth about human existence is that it takes much less effort to be neutral or negative than it takes to be positive and optimistic.  But it is worth it.  Life is more fun and more rewarding.  It is all about your habits. 

The reality is that you are always in habit patterns whether good or bad.  If you wake up every morning and decide whether or not to exercise, it is tough!  You are in the habit of indecision.  If you just wake up and do it every single morning for 3 weeks, it will be hardwired into you.  You don’t even think about it.  It is like this in all of your habits.  This is not just about what you do with your mornings.  You are constantly forming habits at work, with your family, with your friends, and with your own thoughts.  So form good ones!  If you struggle in forming these habits in any area, get an accountability partner.  Find some way to hold yourself accountable.  Do whatever it takes.  The key is, DO IT!  Stop procrastinating. Stop saying that you will form good habits next week.  Don’t wait until it becomes convenient.  There is nothing more important than you being the best version of yourself.  It impacts everything.  So what could me more important than forming the habits that lead to this?  Anything that is worth doing in life is bound to be challenging.  However, if you will stop banging your head against the wall trying to determine why you can never get rid of personality trait x, and instead really hone in on the habits that make you great, the battle you will be fighting will at least lead more directly to living life the way you want to live it!

“It doesn’t matter.  Come on, honey, it’s not that difficult.”  My youngest was agonizing over this standard menu.  “Just pick something.  Decide.”  Gone were the days of a simple Happy Meal.  The Gen Y worker stared at us, unhelpfully, wondering why I failed to teach my daughter how to make simple decisions.  I could feel the cattle getting impatient.

“Just decide!”

Some of us make a huge deal over simple decisions–decisions of no real consequence: what to eat, what to wear, what music to download.  Bigger decisions: who should I call on today?  what attitude do I choose?  should I close again?  Biggest decisions: where to live, where to work, whom to marry.  Certainly the big ones require more thought or prayer.

However, you find that if you don’t practice making decisions, you’ll tend to procrastinate, which in turn will reinforce a bad habit–indecision.  A quick decision is often the best decision and is certainly better than no decision.  My advice to you as a sales professional: practice deciding!

Research has shown that successful people tend to make decisions quickly and are slow to reverse a thoughtful position.  On the other hand, people who fail usually decide slowly and change their minds a lot.  So, make decisions and stick by them.

Decide to be on schedule.

Decide to really connect with prospects.

Decide to ask for the order.

Decide to become a great decision-maker. 

Indecision is the greatest thief of opportunity.

Question: how do you make decisions?  How do you weigh your options?  Are you a Big Mac person, or do you go for the value meal?  Better yet, how did you decide to sell another summer with Southwestern–in spite of your anxiety?  Think about your mental process and feel free to share your thoughts with everyone.

Whether it’s selling books with Southwestern in the summer, or recruiting friends back at school, or playing the piano, or speaking in public, if we practice long enough, we get good at it.  Your habits are proficiencies born out of practice.  Some are conscious, some are not.  They are powerful–mostly because they’re too deep to be visible.

All our habits–whether good or bad–feel natural to us.  You may be in the habit of skipping classes, getting wasted every other day, or working out each morning at 6:00 a.m.  In high school, my son was in the habit of spending 3+ hours/day waging war on the live battlefields of Halo (level 48: he was poning noobs!)  Now, in college, he is thankfully in the habit of studying hard and getting A’s. 

Professionally, you may be in the habit of avoiding cold calls, or you may have developed a habit of NOT closing.  We must be sure we’re noticing our habits and evaluating them.  Ask yourself, “What is this habit leading me to?”  Or, “Is this habit serving me well, leading me where I’d like to go?”  (Why yes, I’d like to compete in the Halo 3 Xbox 360 Competition.  OK, fine.)  If not, discard your bad habit and replace it with a new and better one.  Most of us do not consciously choose our habits–it’s much easier to unconsciously drift into bad habits…right?

Our habits form our future.  So why not take action–purposefully–today?  Begin a new, empowering habit: get up 15 minutes early for quiet time with your Bible, practice approaching someone (for business or pleasure) who intimidates you a bit, begin a workout schedule with a short run around the block, read an inspirational book at night instead of watching reruns of The Office.  Little victories!

Every confrontation with an unfriendly habit is a victory!  Every time counts.  Decide: Today, I’ll begin to notice my habits–both positive and negative.  I will be more aware of future consequences.  Practice makes perfect.

(I’m interested in your thoughts and experiences with this topic–please share with a comment!  Be bold.) 

Wouldn’t it be great to have customers giving you leads?  To have Southwestern team members suggesting good prospects?  To have plenty of business through referrals?  

Here are the four habits: 

1) Be on time. If you’re not punctual, people feel their time is not important to you. Show up on time-or early. 

2) Do what you say. The world is full of people who talk a good game when they’re in the sales mode, but then fall short of their promises. Back up your statements with good follow through, and people will respect you and want to do business with you again. 

3) Finish what you start. How many of us know great starters, but not great finishers? It’s easy to begin, harder to finish. It’s fun to close the deal, but less exciting to follow up on the paperwork and the delivery. If you finish what you start, people will recognize this and your reputation will precede you (in a good way). 

4) Say please & thank you. Be courteous. View the receptionist as an ally, not as an obstacle to get to the decision-maker. Write a thank you note after the sale. The little things can help you or hurt you. 

These concepts sound simple, but salespeople often overlook them in their quest for the Next Big Sale.  Make these four habits, your habits and you’ll do well.

“Why do you suppose it’s so difficult to match one’s behavior and decisions to their goals? If life is all about habits, why is it so easy to form bad habits and so difficult to form good ones?”

Good stuff!  Let me lob this out to the crowd before I proffer my thoughts…any ideas?  Please comment.