Q. Who are the highest paid professionals?
A. Entertainers and athletes.
Q. Why is that?
A. Because they have the discipline to practice harder and longer than anyone else in any other profession.
Tiger Woods practiced since age 3, going so far as to redo his swing—not once, but twice!
Michael Jordan was notorious at the amount of free-throw shots he practiced.
Johnny Depp spent years perfecting his humor and studying masters, such as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.
Q. In the corporate world who has the potential to make the most money?
A. Sales people.
Even when I speak to business owners, they tell me that their sales people have the potential to earn more money. What’s more, they want them to! And yet, when I speak to sales professionals, they often say they can go into a client meeting without a prepared script. They justify it by saying; “It’s more natural if I just wing it.”
Can you imagine Tiger Woods saying that? Not a chance! The sales professionals that have the most success have the most discipline.
If you are in sales, and everyone is in sales, then you need to harness your discipline to become the best. Here are 7 things, if done with discipline, will immediately improve your performance.
1. EXERCISE
You may think this has nothing to do with selling, but in reality it has everything to do with it. Exercise gives you focus, creates endorphins to make you more happy and creative, keeps you in good health so you can put in more hours (and better focus) than the competitions, and gives you more energy. The hours before work running or doing Yoga will give you that edge and crispness that your competition will miss. When you go up against them, you’ll win!
2. STUDY
Improve your skills all the time. Have the discipline to spend one hour a day reading. Audio CDs and MP3s (to listen to when your working-out) count. If you’re not continuously learning, then you stagnate and fall behind. If you are a sales professional, read about selling techniques and systems, time management, marketing, communications, memory power, public speaking, fashion, presentation skills and motivation. And that is just for starters. Biography should also be at the top of your list.
3. TAKE ACTION
There are so many people who have an idea, read a book, or go to a seminar , make a plan, and then fail to take action. An idea without actions is mental masturbation. Find a way to put your ideas into action. Otherwise, your learning time was a waste of time.
4. TIME MANAGEMENT
Time management is a misnomer for self-management and self-discipline. You must manage yourself within time, planning what you do and when you do it. If you put it in your calendar, then do it. Get rid of your “ To Do” lists and have only “Will Do” lists. This one item alone can make a huge impact in your work. A brilliant book on managing your time is edited by Jocelyn K. Glee at 99U and I highly recommend it, “Manage Your Day-to-Day”.
5. MAKE 10 CALLS FIRST THING IN THE MORNING
Phone calling in the morning, when the rest of the world is passively checking their email, gives you the acceleration and momentum to create a dynamic flow of success.
6. FIND 3 THINGS A DAY FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Put the 3 things down first thing in the morning and don’t stop until they are done. Post that blog. Learn the new specifications of your product. Practice your cold call (warm call) script. Make a referral. Contact someone who can refer business to you. Contact the new sales director of a company that just joined the local chamber. In short, develop your business. If you short ideas, ready Jeffery Fox’s “How to Become a Rainmaker,” one of my favorite sales books of all time.
7. CREATE MESSAGES
Do you know what you will say when you walk into a client’s office? You should have it memorized and down pat. What about rebuttals to a prospect’s objections? Or what about a series of questions that help make prospects think and buy your product? Do you have a memorized 30-second elevator pitch? You must spend time creating your messages. Then memories your lines. Athletes have game plans, actors memorize their lines, and musicians know the music and lyrics. Successful sales people know their message. Have the discipline to create, memorize, and practice your messaging.
Fortune magazine made an excellent observation about Warren Buffet. They remarked that it isn’t his god-given talent that has made him a success, but “his discipline and [long] hours he spends studying financial statements of potential investment targets.” When you put in the discipline, you succeed. It’s as simple as that.