From the Selling to Consumers Blog (blog.SellingToConsumers.com) for October 31, 2007:
It's the last day of October. That means there are exactly two months of selling opportunities remaining in calendar year 2007. How are you doing at meeting your 2007 sales quota or goal?
If you're on track to make your goal for 2007, I'm guessing that you're motivated, engaged, and aggressively moving ahead to ensure that you sell what you need to to ensure that both your boss and yourself are happy on December 31st, 2007.
On the other hand, if you're not on track to make your goal, you're probably like a lot of salespeople who have given up on 2007 and are instead looking ahead to 2008 with such self-talk as "next year will be a better year" or "I hope the economy turns around next year."
2008 will be here in due time. It's great to plan ahead. But one-sixth of 2007 remains. Your 2007 will likely be made or not made depending upon how you decide to look at the remaining two months of sales opportunities in 2007. Don't blow off one-sixth of the year because once it's gone, it is gone forever.
Here are four ways to keep your focus on 2007:
1. Virtually every salesperson has one or more nagging "to-do's" floating around in their mind. What is it you've meant to do for months or even a year or longer that you haven't "gotten around" to doing? Do it now. You know what it is.
2. Set clear behavior goals for yourself for the next two months (examples: "get to work by 7:30 am" or "cut caffeine consumption by fifty percent" or "contact thirty of my friends and relatives and ask for referrals).
3. If low motivation is a factor in your situation, let someone help you. Hire a coach. Or, two books (or audiobooks) I highly recommend are Jack Canfield's The Success Principles and Seth Godin's The Dip. One is long and the other is short; Both are great.
4. Your best source of revenue is most probably the group of prospects you've already spoken with and have given presentations to, but who you let slip through the cracks. I know, I know: you got busy and didn't have time to follow-up to continue the selling process. Well now it's crunch time, so make time to call them back now, along with the fifty or one hundred other prospects who were interested in your product or service at one time in 2007, but from whom you never bothered to get a firm yes or no buying decision. There are buyers there waiting for you. It might be one of them or it might be fifty of them, but I know they're there - they always are.
The best to you!
