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Labcast: The Key to Stealing Back Your Productivity
Even outside the holiday season, it’s natural to want to volunteer your time towards activities outside your primary role. For salespeople, that might be helping onboard a new client instead of generating new leads. For CEOs, that might mean trading in the leader role for administrator-in-chief. But while being a team player sure might seem like the jolly thing to do, the truth is the giving spirit is likely distracting you from your most important duties — and hurting your company, overall.
Mike Weinberg, one of OpenView’s Top Sales Influencers for 2013 and author of bestselling book New Sales Simplified, has nontraditional tidings to share this year — if you really want to be helpful, start being selfishly productive. You don’t have to be a complete Grinch in your non-work activities, but if you really want to be productive, you need to start stealing back your calendar and saying “No” to non-high payoff activities. For example, salespeople: Ask yourself throughout the day, “Is what I’m doing right now leading to a sale?”
This Week’s Guest
“[Your] primary job is not deliveries. It’s not operations. It’s not program management. It’s finding new business. Your job is to pick up a weapon and go kill something, and every time you get distracted from doing that, you think you’re helping, but actually you’re hurting the cause.”
Key Points
* Being too much of a team player can become dangerous when it interferes with your primary job. For salespeople, that’s finding new business. [3:00]
* It’s okay to be selfish. [5:30]
* Take control of your calendar. Make appointments with yourself for things you need to work on. [5:45]
* CEOs: You’re not administrator-in-chief. [7:45]
* Sales Managers: Stop being the firefighter, and start the being a Navy Seal. [8:30]
* Take advantage of offloading. Mike uses EA Help, a virtual assistant. [10:15]
* Pro tip for 2014: Do some year-end, post-mortem analysis and start planning for 2014. [14:50]
Listen Here
Labcast 127: Mike Weinberg on Being Selfishly Productive
Transcript
Jonathan Crowe: Hello, everyone, and welcome to LabCast. This is your host, Jonathan Crowe. This week, we have consultant sales coach and speaker Mike Weinberg with us. Mike is the author of the bestselling book New Sales Simplified: The Essential Handbook for Prospecting and New Business Development. Mike also has a popular website and blog at NewSalesCoach.com, and he was even named one of our Top 25 Sales Influencers for 2013.
I’m really excited to have Mike here with us, especially during this very busy season. It’s busy for all of us, especially salespeople. It’s a mad dash to the finish, as everybody knows. And it’s also the season of giving, but Mike here is with us to suggest that, you know what? Salespeople should actually realize it’s okay to be a little selfish.
Mike, great to have you with us. Can you talk a little bit about being selfishly productive?
Mike Weinberg: Sure can. Good morning, Jonathan. Great to be with you. Thanks for the invite.
This is a controversial topic. And yeah, it is the season of giving,
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Even outside the holiday season, it’s natural to want to volunteer your time towards activities outside your primary role. For salespeople, that might be helping onboard a new client instead of generating new leads. For CEOs, that might mean trading in the leader role for administrator-in-chief. But while being a team player sure might seem like the jolly thing to do, the truth is the giving spirit is likely distracting you from your most important duties — and hurting your company, overall.
Mike Weinberg, one of OpenView’s Top Sales Influencers for 2013 and author of bestselling book New Sales Simplified, has nontraditional tidings to share this year — if you really want to be helpful, start being selfishly productive. You don’t have to be a complete Grinch in your non-work activities, but if you really want to be productive, you need to start stealing back your calendar and saying “No” to non-high payoff activities. For example, salespeople: Ask yourself throughout the day, “Is what I’m doing right now leading to a sale?”
This Week’s Guest
“[Your] primary job is not deliveries. It’s not operations. It’s not program management. It’s finding new business. Your job is to pick up a weapon and go kill something, and every time you get distracted from doing that, you think you’re helping, but actually you’re hurting the cause.”
Key Points
* Being too much of a team player can become dangerous when it interferes with your primary job. For salespeople, that’s finding new business. [3:00]
* It’s okay to be selfish. [5:30]
* Take control of your calendar. Make appointments with yourself for things you need to work on. [5:45]
* CEOs: You’re not administrator-in-chief. [7:45]
* Sales Managers: Stop being the firefighter, and start the being a Navy Seal. [8:30]
* Take advantage of offloading. Mike uses EA Help, a virtual assistant. [10:15]
* Pro tip for 2014: Do some year-end, post-mortem analysis and start planning for 2014. [14:50]
Listen Here
Labcast 127: Mike Weinberg on Being Selfishly Productive
Transcript
Jonathan Crowe: Hello, everyone, and welcome to LabCast. This is your host, Jonathan Crowe. This week, we have consultant sales coach and speaker Mike Weinberg with us. Mike is the author of the bestselling book New Sales Simplified: The Essential Handbook for Prospecting and New Business Development. Mike also has a popular website and blog at NewSalesCoach.com, and he was even named one of our Top 25 Sales Influencers for 2013.
I’m really excited to have Mike here with us, especially during this very busy season. It’s busy for all of us, especially salespeople. It’s a mad dash to the finish, as everybody knows. And it’s also the season of giving, but Mike here is with us to suggest that, you know what? Salespeople should actually realize it’s okay to be a little selfish.
Mike, great to have you with us. Can you talk a little bit about being selfishly productive?
Mike Weinberg: Sure can. Good morning, Jonathan. Great to be with you. Thanks for the invite.
This is a controversial topic. And yeah, it is the season of giving,