Success or failure in almost any situation doesn’t depend on our knowledge. Most of the time you know enough to succeed. The problem is not knowledge, it’s action. You may have the knowledge about what to do, but the question is, “Are you doing it consistently?”
Are you taking the consistent actions necessary to succeed?
A common example of this is with financial management. You know what you should do. You should spend less than you take in and you should save and invest some of that difference.
But for many, that’s not what happens. People go into debt, fall behind on payments and get into financial binds. It’s not lack of knowledge that puts you into that situation. It’s a failure to act on what you know and make the right decision consistently.
Sales is the same. You likely have everything you need to hit your numbers. You know how to open up the conversations, move a prospect toward a decision and close the sale.
What stops sales teams from success is not their lack of knowledge: It’s procrastination. To succeed in sales you have to consistently take the actions needed to win. You need to keep up with your daily habits of prospecting, following up and engaging with your best referral sources.
When the right actions are taken, the success follows.
So, how do you kill procrastination and remain consistent to achieve your results every time?
How to Maintain Consistency
1. Map out your quarter, month, week and day
The first step in consistency is mapping out what consistency looks like. The best way to do that is to start broad and then continually narrow in.
In order for you to have a good quarter, what are the actions that need to be taken? What are the daily tasks you need to check off? Pull out a piece of paper and document what’s needed.
Then you can narrow in. What are the tasks for a month, week and all the way to each day.
The point is to be intentional each day. You should start your work day with a plan. If you don’t have a plan, that’s where procrastination will take over.
You’ll waste the day on distractions, rather than coming in to attack the day and work through your key objectives.
2. Focus on your goals
Part of consistency is having the mental toughness to keep going even when you don’t feel like it. Motivation is fleeting. Some days you’ll be pumped up, but other days you’ll just not be feeling it.
Remember, your goal is consistency. So you can’t rely on motivation if you want to be consistent. You have to take the actions even when you don’t feel like it.
One way to do that is to focus on what excites you. What are the goals and rewards? Don’t focus on the next call, or the next step. Focus on the big picture and see those small tasks as the next step toward getting what you want.
3. Create a rhythm that works for you
Don’t look at your day as one big long 8-10 hour block. Break up your day with smaller blocks of time so you can sprint then rest.
A good practice is to batch your time. Set aside time for email and then be done. Set aside time for prospecting and then knock it out.
This is a good habit because it will make you more productive. When you batch your tasks you can stay focused on only one thing for that period of time. More importantly, you also create a rhythm that allows you to perform at a high level. You know you have a batch of time, then you’ll walk away from that and take a break.
4. Use technology and automation where you can
There is no question to succeed in sales you’re going to have to put in the work. Eliminating distraction and procrastination in order to focus on high level tasks are essential for any sales team.
But that doesn’t mean you have to work for work’s sake. You want your hard work to go toward money-making activity that moves the needle.
There is technology available now that gives sales teams tremendous advantages and can keep you focused only on strategy and closing.
This is another advantage of point number 1 where you map out all your key activities. When you map out your entire month, start to look and ask questions. Which of these tasks can be outsourced or automated?
Could you implement Growbots for help with prospecting, lead generation and outbound sequences?
The more you can automate some of the simple tasks, the more you’ll be ready for action in your day because you’ll fill your time only with high value activity.