As a salesperson, preparing for the week ahead is crucial to success. Research shows that 80% of the week should be planned prior to Monday, leaving room for only 20% to react to new things during the week. The goal is to be so proactive in your daily or weekly high value activities that you simply react to the week once it has started.

In this week’s podcast, we’ll share some tips and strategies to help you plan and attack the week with confidence.

Alleviate Pressure from the “Sunday Scaries”

The “Sunday scaries” is a feeling of anxiety and stress that often creeps up on us on Sunday evenings, as we think about the week ahead. To alleviate this pressure, it’s important to take the weekend to rejuvenate and stay in “somewhat” of a rhythm. This will help you feel refreshed and ready to tackle the week ahead.

Weekly Vision Board

Creating a weekly vision board is a great way to set your benchmarks for the week. Our vision board is a bit different than most. It’s not about the external rewards such as the house, money, or cars you want but rather the people who can help you reach your goals. Write down your weekly database targets, such as “50 people per week” and stick to it. This will help you stay focused and motivated throughout the week. Sales is a contact sport. How are you proactively building and maintaining your network through database management?

How to Plan for the Week in 3 Easy Steps:

Step 1: New Leads from Previous Week (Weekly Success Tracker) Start by reviewing the new leads from the previous week. This will help you see what worked and what didn’t, so you can make necessary adjustments.

Step 2: Previous Week’s Follow-Up(s) That Got Pushed Did you have any follow-ups that got pushed to the next week? Make sure to prioritize these, so you don’t fall behind.

Step 3: Existing Meetings for the Upcoming Week Review any existing meetings you have scheduled for the upcoming week and make sure you’re prepared for each one.

How to Attack the Week in 3 Easy Steps:

Once you’ve planned for the week, it’s time to attack! Here are some steps to help you get started:

Step 1: Events to Leverage Try to attend at least one event per week. This will help you network and find new leads.

Step 2: New Targets Set a goal to prospect 3-5 new targets per week. This will help you continuously grow your pipeline.

Step 3: Record Activities and Follow-Ups in Real Time Take 15 minutes each day to record your activities and follow-ups. This will help you stay organized and on track.

Productivity Tips: Professional Development Theme Days

Timeblock 60-minutes each day for “themed” professional development activities tied to our selling system. We have 3 types of days to follow: Off Days, Backstage Days, and Performance Days. Whichever way you decide to look at these days choose from the following groups of people to batch your prospecting to.

Themed Day Types:

In conclusion, planning is essential for successful salespeople. By creating a vision board, consistently prospecting new leads, and following up with existing customers, you can set yourself up for success each week. With these strategies in place, there’s nothing stopping you from crushing your quota this quarter!

The post Ep. 33: How To Plan and Attack the Week appeared first on The Solopreneur Movement.

Welcome to this week’s podcast on “Same Sh!t. Different Day.”

Groundhog day is here! Growing up, this is one of my favorite movies. The storyline is that Bill Murray must replay the same day, Groundhog Day, over and over and over which literally drives him crazy. The definition of insanity is often referred to as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Can you relate to this as a business owner?

In sales, it can be challenging to balance this concept because we are taught the importance of routine, consistency, and discipline. We need to be all of these to avoid daily distractions.

However, doing the same thing again and again and again can become monotonous and boring. It can also be highly frustrating if we don’t see or can’t feel the progress we make.

The first place to start being more productive in your business is to ask yourself, what are the daily non-negotiable essentials in your business and how long, on average, should you spend doing them? Many of us get caught up in the doom-loop of busy work rather than money-generating activities. Busy work is, often, easier because it doesn’t involve other people.

Essentialism in business refers to the practice of focusing on only the most important and critical tasks, priorities, and goals while eliminating or delegating non-essential ones. It is a time management and productivity philosophy that emphasizes doing fewer things better, rather than trying to do everything. The goal is to achieve greater efficiency, effectiveness, and impact in business operations and decision-making.

“You can do anything, but you can’t do everything.” This concept is the biggest challenge for solopreneurs.

Here are some other tips to help stay motivated and inspired:

BONUS: Find hobbies outside work – engaging in non-work-related activities can refresh the mind and bring balance to a salesperson’s life. Learn how to “shut it down” for 24-36 hours to recharge.

I’ve never bought into the saying, “If you love what you do you’ll never work another day in your life.” As entrepreneurs, we must find various ways to stay motivated on a consistent basis. Entrepreneurs are naturally impatient people who like to try (or create) new things. Our greatest strengths are also our greatest weaknesses. As is the case with most things in life, we must practice balance.

The post Ep. 32: Same Sh!t. Different Day. appeared first on The Solopreneur Movement.

Perfecting Prospecting to Keep Your Pipeline Full

What it is?

In simple terms, prospecting involves researching and engaging potential buyers who are or might be interested in your service. To take pressure off the prospecting mindset, think of it this way. There are a group of people out there, think target markets, who need or want services in your field. It’s up to you to find these people and help solve their problems to the best of your ability. They are going to use somebody and you’re just as good as anybody in your market. We call this having a help list mindset of prospects to share ideas with and present offers to. 

What it isn’t?

There are TWO buckets I put prospecting into:

New Leads vs. New Targets

New leads come in through referral sources or marketing efforts; because they already have some familiarity with your brand, the close time for these leads is often reduced. 

New targets, on the other hand, do not know about you yet; so it can take longer to warm them up before making a sale. We’ll have a separate session in the future on how to proactively target prospects.

Common lead sources to assess in your current business model would be to evaluate where are your new leads coming from? The 90-Day Sales Manager system helps you differentiate into these three segments.

New Leads through 3 Main Sources

New Targets through 3 Main Sources

Conclusion:

The post Ep. 31: Perfecting Your Prospecting appeared first on The Solopreneur Movement.

Most people blame their failure to fulfill resolutions on a lack of time, resources, or motivation, or a loss of zeal after starting. Only about 16 percent of people are able to follow their resolutions, according to research.

TOP 5 REASONS RESOLUTIONS DON’T STICK

1) Not YOUR Why

2) Not a realistic goal (over-confident)

3) No clear plan or accountability

4) Don’t Celebrate Progress

5) Don’t Make Excuses

Most people blame their failure to fulfill resolutions on a lack of time, resources, or motivation, or a loss of zeal after starting. There’s a lot that goes into finishing something after you start it.

The post Ep. 30: 5 Reasons Resolutions Don’t Stick appeared first on The Solopreneur Movement.

Prospecting isn’t something you did it’s something you do. It’s an ongoing part of your business that should be a habit (non-negotiable). Prospecting can be intimidating. I know it used to be that way for me, which is why I created the Proactive Prospecting System to help “gamify” driving new business.

Did you know that 65% of salespeople don’t have a CRM and 95% don’t actively use one? I believe that’s because they don’t see their CRM as an ASSET, but rather “busy-work.”

Come learn how to proactively prospect through a consistent selling system tied to 15 sales & marketing strategies to grow your database and production each quarter.

Imagine waking up each day knowing exactly… what to do and why and how to do it. We got you covered.

The post Ep. 29: Year End Business Planning Made Easy appeared first on The Solopreneur Movement.

Definition of probability?

You don’t need more money. You need more people. 

Two Questions then:

How to increase probability? 

Everybody competes harder when there’s a scoreboard. We all need some level of accountability.

Jab, Jab, Hook

The post Ep. 28: Sales is a Game of Probability appeared first on The Solopreneur Movement.

Time-Block Gamification

Time management is the one variable that’s consistently the biggest challenge among salespeople. During this week’s Monday accountability call, come to learn our calendar color-code system that makes time-blocking fun.

Calendar Color Code:

Green = Money

Theme Days:

Prospecting Theme Days:

The post Ep. 27: Timeblock Gamification appeared first on The Solopreneur Movement.

What is the “free prize” inside? It’s a book by Seth Godin where he teaches the art of the free prize. What do I get in addition to the transaction that I wasn’t expecting through the customer experience? 

When you open a box of cereal at the bottom is a free prize. Inside a cracker-jack box is a free prize. In business, there’s something I get from you based on your knowledge, skill, desire, confidence, personality, and character that makes you special.

The challenge? Most of us have never been taught how to unpack our free prize. In this week’s podcast, I want to do just that. What’s your free prize intangibles? What makes you a must-have? What is your competitive advantage?

The post Ep. 26: The Free Prize Inside appeared first on The Solopreneur Movement.

Difficult times by industry?

The “new normal” is that there is no normal. Lately, the world seems to be jumping from one catastrophe to the next within days. And if you watch the news, which is meant to create panic and click bait, then we are always in the midst of something bad. I’m reminded of the expression, tough times never last. Tough people always do. This too shall pass. We all go through bad times. We all experience disappointment, loss, and change. We all feel sad, anxious, and overwhelmed at various times in our lives. Then why do some people persevere and cope in the face of stressful times better than others? One word. Resilience. But it’s easier said than done because when you’re IN IT then it feels like you’re drowning with stress, worry, doubt, doubt, and fear. 

Tips for Building Resilience 

Tough times in my life?

Use this time to build out scalable systems to maximize on EVERY opportunity. Don’t let any deals slip through the cracks. 

Building resilience can also help you to:

The post Ep. 25: Tough Times Don’t Last. Tough People Do. appeared first on The Solopreneur Movement.

It’s not how you start. It’s how you finish.

Most things in life are about probability. This week’s podcast focuses on helping you FINISH what you start.

There are five reasons why I believe people don’t see something through to their conclusion.

The post Ep. 24: 5 Reasons People Start But Don’t Finish appeared first on The Solopreneur Movement.