I Used To Do That!

Do you ever have those moments where you smack your forehead with your palm and think, “I am such a doofus!”

You know, those Homer Simpson moments of “DOH!” where you realize something completely obvious that you’ve overlooked or forgotten?

That happened to me last week

I was sitting on the patio of Viva, having some appetizers and a glass (or two) of wine with one of my colleagues in Denver.

We were deep in a discussion about sales when that face-palm moment hit me.

My friend was telling me about training her new salesperson.

As part of the training, she made sure to remind her trainee that it is always ok to walk away from a deal that isn’t a good fit for the company.

That’s when it hit me – I used to do that.

100% of the time.

I never took clients when that little voice inside me told me not to.

I stopped turning down bad clients

But I’d recently let myself be talked into doing a project I really wasn’t into.

I even said no three times but I gave in on the fourth request.

And ever since then, I’ve regretted saying “yes”.

That project is haunting me and I can’t wait for it to be over.

What else I was I not doing?

Then I got to thinking about all of the other things I used to do that worked really for me and that I quit doing.

Things like:

• Writing hand-written thank you notes
• Calling to confirm appointments and ask questions beforehand
• Asking deeper questions during sales calls
• Following up with prospects at least 6 times before walking away
• Writing blog posts every week
• Getting my exercise in before I start working
• Networking each week
• Segmenting my list
• Having lunch each week with someone I admire

What are the things that YOU used to do that made you successful but that you don’t do now?

Take a minute to make a list of three things and then work them back into your schedule.

You just might find your sales going up to new heights.