Sales Blog for Sales and Sales Management

I may be driving you crazy with my approach to covering the 10 Solutions for Successful Selling by going from #7 - Budget: Getting Time, Money and Resource to Solve Problems and then skipping to #10, 8 Steps to Closing More Business.  Now, I'm on #4.  Ironically, it is called First Things First but is numbered #4. Trust me.

Steven Covey wrote a book years ago called The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. This post is not about the book but about habit #3:  First Things First. Habit #3 is about doing, in priority, those activities and behaviors that are consistent with your objectives and goals.  

I was with John J. Young, President and CEO of the Freestore FoodBank here in Cincinnati.  My wife, Linda, and I were visiting to discuss an upcoming project and to discuss how we might be of more help to the objectives of the organization.  

In John's discussion with us, he said something that struck me as powerful to their cause and important in almost any endeavor.  He said, "The help starts with food."  I apologize, John, if I don't get it exactly right, but that is what I heard.  I'll let John explain to you what it means in his world, but to me it meant a couple of things:

1. Basic fundamentals: They are called basic and fundamentals for a reason. Everything has a starting point. You have to identify that starting point.  You have to master that starting point.  You must execute that starting point every time if you expect to reach your expected objectives.
2. Basic needs:  There are maybe only a couple of things more basic than food.  Air and water.  That's about it.  You might want to add faith, but I would suggest that is a little higher on Maslow's hierarchy of needs.  You have to take care of the basic needs if you are going to grow, prosper and succeed.

I can't help myself when I get into conversations like this, read a book, watch a movie. My mind, at some point, automatically shifts to "How does this pertain to selling?"  

1. Basic fundamentals in selling:  You have to understand your priorities in sales.  It isn't paperwork, time management, continuing education, training or meetings.  You cannot succeed without doing those things, but they are not the priority to your success. There is only 1 'A' priority and that is prospecting.
2. Basic needs:  You need(s) to call people, you need(s) to see people.  Until you do that, nothing else happens.  There isn't paper to push or anything to report in a meeting.  The job in selling is prospecting.  It is why selling is so damn hard and why sales people, good sales people, make so much damn money.

The #4 sales solution of First Things First is prospecting.  Carve out 10% of your time each and every day to call on people to tell your story.  Feed your business every day; the rest will take care of itself.

Comments welcomed.  I know that we have a lot of wisdom out there in our followership.  I'd ask you to take just a minute and write to the rest of us how you manage to make sure that, day in and day out, you feed your business.

Thanks