Lets be frank – it’s not possible to always keep motivated – and as that famous poster with the steam engine collapsing off the bridge says – “Shit happens!”

Buddha perhaps said it more eloquently when he said – “Life is a Problem” and we all know – “you have to taste the sour to appreciate the sweet”.

So the fact is – we all get de-motivated from time to time, maybe even to the point where if it persists we’re mildly depressed and sometimes this is with really good reason.

Just acknowledging this fact can, in itself be useful. You’re not a “loser” for feeling below par from time to time – life isn’t always “a box of chocolates” as Forest Gump said.

I believe that each person has to develop- their own “fix” when things don’t go our way.

Here’s my Top 5  list of “fixes”  [in no particular order] that I have for keeping me motivated  when I’m below par – what’s yours?

1. Rewards to Feed the Soul

Having something that “feeds the soul” after the work is done is essential to staying motivated.

In my case – I admit it – I’m a “golf junky”! I even play indoors in the winter. If I play well – there is nothing better! If I play poorly – I’ve had a four and a half hour work-out and the pleasure of taking-in some great scenery. I’m lucky my club enjoys some of the best scenery imaginable as it courses its way along the Rouge River.

My wife loves to garden – she has the most amazing green fingers and it shows in our beautiful garden.

If you’re married it helps to have complimentary pastimes. I like to golf – my wife likes to garden – so absolutely no resentment about each of us following our own pleasures.

2. A Good Workout

Nothing beats a good workout to keep you motivated!

I still own one of those “Nordic Track” self-powered “workout bikes”. Thirty or 45 minutes on that old machine at least once per week with some really loud music [currently Adele] – looking into my garden – works wonders for getting all those little “happy endorphins” movin’ and shakin’!

It’s like “cleansing the soul” – I sometimes even have a “genius attack” – a new idea comes to me – as my mind shifts to new things.

I must admit I don’t particularly like working-out – but do enjoy the results – particularly when the machine tells me I’ve burnt-up + 400 calories and this allows me to enjoy some additional indulgence at dinner!

3. Simple Rituals – 3 cups of tea and a good stiff gin and tonic with a twist of lemon

Familiar rituals can provide a sense of continuity and comfort.

My day starts with 3 cups of tea with my wife and our dog Tanzie. After 30 minutes sipping tea and chatting to my wife I’m motivated and ready to go to work.

My work day ends with a stiff gin and tonic – watching the 6 o’clock BBC news before supper.  I wouldn’t miss these 2 “book-ends” for anything – especially the gin and tonic!

4. “KBO – Keep Buggering-On”

Winston Churchill coined this turn of phrase. It is truly a great piece of advice for maintaining your motivation.

Thinking about what you have to do and doing nothing procrastinating is a totally toxic road to follow. You may not know exactly where your efforts will take you or have the certainty even if they will work – but if you have a “to do list” and you work at it with guts and discipline – you’re in with a chance to compete and at worst – you tried and failed – but gave it your best shot!

5. Preparation

Being well prepared for anything is a great stress reducer. It might be an important presentation, a tough sales call, a crucial conversation or a job interview.  Betting against “Murphy’s Law” well in advance of the actual event puts you in control, increases the probability of success and allows you to relax – or at least get your stress level to a controllable level.

Mohammed Ali – was always the epitome of “cool” when he fought – but it didn’t come easy. Ali used to say – “First I run on the road – before I dance under the lights”.

In simple English, our business strategy should answer the question “so what makes you different from your competition?”

Once you have your business strategy figured-out your, success in executing your strategy is heavily influenced by your ability to be Focused and Disciplined.

Let’s take a closer look at why our business strategy often comes up short

Two traps seem to stand-out in my mind. What are they?

1. We lose sight of the things that our customers really care about.

What do our customers really care about?

Studies show there are probably 5 things that your customers really care about.

What are they?

• Speed and Timeliness – When I want a product or service can you deliver when I want it?
• Ease of doing business – When I want to “sign-on” with you  or switch providers do you make it as easy as possible? D o you then continue to make it easy to do business on an on-going basis?
• Expertise – Do you know your stuff and understand my issues and problems?
• Effective solutions – Do you get what was promised and perhaps more & is the price/value equation balanced?
• Customer Intimacy – Do you really care about me and make me feel special or am I just a number?

In “positioning” your company we often sound too much like the competition, if we talk about such things as our “product leadership”, “great service”, “top quality” or “operational excellence.”

These are all over-used and are not specific enough, almost clichéd.

2. We think that more is better – in reality less can be better

Effective business strategy is as much about what you will not do, as it is about what you will do. A narrow focus of services and markets can often be much more effective than trying to be all things to all people.

Two Great Examples of Differentiation

I have recently been impressed with two very successful customers of mine, who are great examples of focus and giving their customers what they care about.

The highly successful recruiting company – Recognized by Profit Magazine

During the last few years, the recruiting industry has gone through significant contraction as the economy has slowed. This particular company, in marked contrast, last year enjoyed a + 50 % increase in sales, off an already impressive base. The company has been recognized by Profit Magazine as one the fastest growing entrepreneurial companies in Canada.

How come?  Obviously to enjoy growth like this – you have to have all your fundamentals in good working order. But what struck me about the owner of this company was the narrow focus of customers that she targeted. In setting her company’s strategy she did not try to be a recruiting agency for all industries, but picked a very narrow niche in the distribution industry. This narrow focus has meant that her company is recognized as the “go to company” in that industry segment. This applies not only by those looking for work but also by the clients. Bottom line they have lots of candidates to choose from and a high market penetration in their chosen vertical. Another key differentiator is their commitment to the candidates they place. They refuse to do business with companies known not to treat their people well. That’s a good example of a value driven business strategy making a huge difference.

The highly successful insurance agent

In this case the highly successful insurance agent with over 500 clients again built his business by being very focused. He could have sold a full range of insurance products but chose instead to only sell liability insurance. He also targeted only one industry to service – the recruitment industry. He chose this industry because he had previously worked as a recruiter in a “former life”. He therefore had enormous credibility selling himself as an “expert”. Previously having worked as a recruiter meant he understood the liabilities specific to the industry. Selling only liability insurance meant that he had clout with the underwriter and could assure his clients his rates were as good as any. His renewals run at an unheard of 99%! How come?  By good client service of course, but the real differentiator was the fact that he made it incredibly easy for his clients to renew their policies. His process was this simple. He phoned his clients 3 months before the renewal date and asked them 5 simple questions about the business. If nothing significant had changed in response to these questions – he would tell his clients that there would be a small annual increase. He would then do all the tedious renewal “paper work” for his clients – only requiring a simple signature. A great example of a “making it easy” to do business strategy.

Let me illustrate the point with 3 short examples from my own life that were “game changers” for me.

Campus Carnival

While at Rhodes University in Grahamstown,  in the Eastern Cape of South Africa,  a friend phoned me up one day, to announce that he was not going back to University as he had gotten his girlfriend pregnant!

He had the responsibility of running a fund raiser called Campus Carnival.  Would I take over his role? My first reaction was to say “no” and to give some feeble excuse! This sounded like “responsibility” and that was the last thing I wanted to interfere with my “easy street” existence – doing the minimum of work to pass exams and drinking far too much at the weekends.

Something, however, made me say “yes, ok” and those 5 seconds did change my life.

Campus Carnival – turned out to one big lesson in event marketing. On the Saturday of the event we had woman’s rugby, a parachute drop, “slippery-pole” wrestling, a treasure hunt & the big event – mens inter-varsity rugby, followed by relaxation after the game with a beer garden and barbeque. All the food and booze had to be donated, town council permission had to be granted for the parachute drop, the local schools had to be canvassed, posters displayed & money collected at the gate. A crowd of about 5000 showed up apart from students & the event was a success, breaking all previous records for attendance and funds raised.

Bottom line, this was not an earth shattering marketing success! Sufficient however in that those 5 seconds in fact changed my life. The experience opened my eyes to the fact that I appeared to have some skills in marketing & it seemed a lot of fun. So while I graduated as a social worker and practiced in that profession for 2 years – I started taking a marketing course at night and on emigrating to Cape Town from Zimbabwe was able to make the transition to a career in marketing & ultimately management.

The next Sugar Ray Lenard!

Two other examples continue to make the point that 5 seconds of courage is all it takes sometimes.

Also while at University I was going to the gym to keep fit and used to work-out on the speed ball that the gym had set-up for boxing. One day the boxing coach, seeing me work out – said why didn’t I come & I try out in the ring. Another 5 second moment! The result – I finished-up as boxing captain for the University and won the inter-varsity light middle weight division. It’s hard to describe how good that felt! No more bad dreams of “bully boys” kicking sand in my eyes on the beach!

A new life and language in Brazil

And then there was the opportunity to go miles away to run a music company in a far off country called Brazil, in the great city of Rio de Janiero, a city of 12 million, the city of samba, music and ceravesa! Sounds good I’m sure – but how about having to give up a very good job in Cape Town – learn to speak a new language in a country where only 10% of the population could speak English & try and flog music to which at that time,  I had absolutely no affinity.  Yikes! – this ultimately took more than 5 seconds to make the decision – but it took just 5 seconds to be open to the idea of such a move.

Conclusion

First of all let me say – the yellow streak down by back is just the same as most people – I’m no hero!

There’s also a lot too, to be said for the adage –“look before you leap”. I’ve just as many stories where I wish I had thought a bit more before acting!

That having been said – the 3 examples I gave were very significant “game changers” for me. In the case of the first 2 examples – perhaps the biggest thing I had to lose was my pride and too often we don’t act because of that.

One final rather profound thought from Nelson Mandela who said – “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but who conquers that fear”.

If I asked you the question – “Do you know how you spend your time at work?” – most executives would respond in the affirmative.

Wrong! – most executives have no idea how they spend their time . What they tell you they do and what they actually do, are a mile apart.

Who says this! – you ask indignantly. None other than management guru Peter F. Drucker in the book “The Essential Drucker”.

It was Drucker – who said – “There is never much resemblance between the way people thought they used their time and their actual records”.

As an example he speaks about a chairman who thought he spent his time split equally between 3 principle activities – a third with his senior management, a third with important customers and a third devoted to community activities. Tracking his actual behaviour for 6 weeks – showed however he spent almost no time on these activities!

Drucker concluded – “Man is ill equipped to manage his time”.  In total darkness, most people retain their sense of space. But leave someone in a sealed room for a few hours with the lights on and most people are incapable of estimating how much time has elapsed.

This being true Drucker concluded that the effective person knows to manage your time you first have to know where it actually goes.

I’ve tracked my own behaviour periodically in 15 minute blocks over a 2 week period every 2 to 3 years and then looked at the results.

It’s a truly illuminating exercise!

What do you typically find? Much more time is spent on Low Priority/ Low Impact stuff than you would imagine – fighting emails etc.

Urgent stuff also gets done – but the time quadrant that suffers the most – not surprisingly is stuff classified as Important but not Urgent.

Multitasking – is the other recent villain, with 24-hour internet access and smart phone technology exacerbating this problem.

It was Albert Schweitzer who on winning his Nobel Peace Prize in 1952 – was asked by a reporter – “ So what ails man?” Schweitzer replied – “ Man doesn’t think!”

If that was true in 1952 – how much more of a problem is it today?

What’s the conclusion…
We appear to be wired for action and the whole process of “thinking “ and reflection, so critical to problem solving and innovation tends to fall to the bottom of our daily “to do” list.

What’s the answer?
Here are some suggestions:

1. Commit to a 2-week tracking exercise, to see exactly where your time goes. Cutout activities that deliver low value
2. Make Sunday evenings your “planning time”. For me this is essential to get the week started properly. I’d go crazy without this exercise!
3. Use the “Thinking time” strategies practiced by both Apple & Google – where employees are told to take time out to “think” about the business, innovation and their area of responsibility as well as the company at large
4. Block-off times where you are not going to be interrupted. This can also greatly improve your productivity and get work done classified as “ important but not urgent”
5. Figure-out your hourly rate by dividing your annual income by the hours you work in a year. This will help get you focused and help you decide what work should be delegated or out-sourced
6. Lastly – don’t beat up on yourself! – you’ll never be able to do it all – but at least strive to get the important stuff done!

For some more really useful tips on Time Management – go to this article by Nick Repak, Director of Grad Resources http://www.gradresources.org/articles/time_management.shtml

Is this true or false? Where’s the evidence to prove this theory?

Let’s look at the chart below – which provides some quiet strong proof to support the theory that selling IS a numbers game.

We see that the top 7% of sales people spend 75% of their time allocated to either selling [20%] or prospecting [50%].

In contrast – their less successful counterparts had a combined total of  only 25% – [15% selling and 10% prospecting].

Is there a message in these numbers?

Yes there is – first of all – get as much admin work off the shoulders of sales people as possible – that potentially goes a long way to fixing the problem – a full 15% in fact.

The other big difference here is in the time spent “farming” existing accounts – a difference of a full 30%.

What’s the problem here or is it in fact not a problem?

It could be a  “head trash” or a call reluctance problem  - after all its typically 5 times harder “hunting “ for new business than it is – “farming” an existing account.

We don’t know if that’s the case, however, as it maybe, that strategically, the sales person’s time is best spent going “deep and wide” with existing accounts – as opposed to hunting less uncertain “treasures” with new accounts.

The last thing I don’t like about the simplistic view is that numbers are just that – numbers. Are you better off making 5 quality calls and having a good conversation as opposed to 60 “drive by shooting” cold calls?

No simplistic answers– each case must be judged on its merits – based on tracking your metrics over a  sustained period of time.

Once again – the only thing we can say with certainty is that – “The only way to fail at prospecting is to fail to prospect!”

I was recently reminded by chance of the many lost opportunities in respect to not staying connected to dormant accounts. A “dormant account” can be described as someone you’ve done business with before, but the project or need was taken care of. You and the client had gone your separate ways.  Out of site – out of mind!

Let me give you a very personal example where I simply got lucky as opposed to any “planned approach”. By chance I got a call from a rep from an insurance company I had done business with 3 years ago based in Alberta. She asked if I could give her written confirmation that she had attended a training program we had run. She needed this to claim some “continuous learning credit”, demanded by her industry association to keep her license. This lead to a conversation about how things were going at work and if any significant changes had taken place. Yes, she said, things were good and she had a new boss. When I inquired if it would make sense to talk to the new boss – she volunteered to write a nice introduction and a personal recommendation.

That chance call from someone within a so-called “dead” account – lead to my largest sale for the year!

So – sometimes we get lucky!!  – but what about all the opportunities from old dormant accounts that I don’t know about?

So what ‘s the problem – how come I had lost touch? There were 3 things at play

1. The “tyranny of urgent” all the stuff that needed to get done today!
2. “Out of site out of mind” the old customer is often located in areas where you don’t bump into them.
3. Perhaps most tellingly of all – my own disorganization! – I had no systematic “touch strategy” or CRM system to remind me to stay in touch

The opportunity to “mine” so called “dead accounts” can be very rewarding as my own good luck showed me.

The solution is really quite simple – you need a good CRM system to help you with your “touch” strategy and then you need the discipline to actually use it!

This often leads to a lot of guilt even a feeling that you’re a “slacker”.

So our intentions were good – but we failed to execute!

How so?

Identifying the 7 reasons why we procrastinate

1. The task, goal, or problem you’re trying to fix, simply seems too big, too daunting.

2. You got no further than writing the goal down. The critical part- the details on how – were missing!

3. There was no real commitment to the goal [maybe the answer to “why” the goal was important was missing].

4. Perhaps you didn’t share your goal with anyone else, so it was easy to “let yourself off-the-hook”.

This is particularly true for people who are self-employed or who work in organizations that are highly entrepreneurial .Not unusually in these organizations; there is no comprehensive Management by Objectives system. In its place there is a culture of “fly by the seat of your pants”.

5. The tyranny of urgent may have over-taken your life and anything that is important but not urgent gets pushed to the back of your “to do” list. [We sometimes confuse being “busy” with being productive - doing emails or shuffling papers around!].

6. We sometimes have doubts about how to actually fix the problem & then again

7. There is the fear of failure

This toxic combination factors – get in the way of our achieving our full potential.

3 Ideas to help break this cycle of self-inflicted, guilt inducing, energy sapping procrastination

1. Correctly diagnose the problem. Identify which one of the above, in isolation or in combination, may be holding you back and deal with that piece of the “puzzle”.
2. “Chunk” or break the goal into smaller pieces where the goal is considered “too big” .Start by breaking it into its component activities and start knocking off pieces of the problem you are trying to fix in bite size mouthfuls.
3. Remember its O.K. to fail & the only way we grow is to learn from our mistakes.

For example – look at prospecting for new business – we often put this off because selling often comes with a lot of rejection. Its here your best mantra should be “You cannot fail at prospecting unless you fail to prospect!”

Lastly – Nike had it right with their “Just do it!” imperative.

How we respond in these situations can either strengthen or weaken us and is a measure, perhaps of our true character.

A long time ago – I remember reading – “Mans Search for Meaning” –  by Victor Frankl and how inspired I was by this man’s ability to overcome life in the most outrageous conditions, a notorious concentration camp, and to never lose hope or his humanity.

I’ve recently started to read the book again. One paragraph caught my attention where he recounts;

“ We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one last thing: the last of the human freedoms- to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’ s own way”.

Having endured all the suffering imaginable, Victor Frankl never lost his will to live and even in the most abject conditions – kept finding meaning in his life.

He did this by never losing sight of his end goal after he got out of the concentration camp. He kept going by studying the behaviours of those who never gave in, to see what  separated them from the majority who succumbed to the horrors of life in a concentration camp and those who rose above it. When subsequently freed by the Allies,  he converted this knowledge to Logo Therapy which today is acknowledged as a powerful therapy focused on helping people find meaning in life and over-coming depression.

Victor Frankl set the bar very high for us to measure our own response to the “bad things that happen” and showed us that we each have the will to “choose our attitude”  in any given set of bad circumstances that inevitably happen in our day to day lives.

Getting to the root of objection

When it comes to making a sale you have to sift through a lot of problems before you can get to the root: the pain.  Perhaps you’re sifting through price oppositions or busy schedules? Indecision-makers or budgetary constraints? Whatever you’re selling, it’s a solution.  The fact is you can’t provide solutions without really understanding the problem.  And every problem is rooted in pain.

Why pain is important

It would be careless of a doctor to diagnose before giving a full exam.  In sales it’s equally careless to focus on you/your product/your company when you should be focused on your prospect.  In general it demonstrates a lack of concern, and without knowing the pain you can’t prescribe the remedy. Unlocking the pain creates a simple connection between your prospect’s problem and your benefit.

The sore spot: what causes pain?

If you can get to the pain of your prospect you can establish a relationship of value.  One where your client feels heard and allows you to deliver results that matter.  The challenge is getting there.  Because it takes relentless pursuit and a boldly direct approach.  My advice: get direct; it saves everybody a lot of time.  Ask questions.  If they are looking for a new provider, what was wrong with the previous one? If they insist on bottom line pricing, find out why.

How to spot pain

If you’re like me you tend to make your pain heard.  Others try to hide their pain.  Spotting pain is easier than you think.  Just listen for incongruent statements.  For example:

Prospect: Sales in our LED signage department have been declining steadily in the last two years.

Sales: Is that so? Why do you think that is?

Prospect: It’s because the bulbs we use are poor and keep failing in stormy weather conditions.

Sales: Have you considered switching to a more reliable bulb provider?

Prospect: Yes, but it’s not in the budget.

Back to the question:

Can you put a price on pain? Ultimately only the person in pain can tell you how much it hurts. If the pain is fresh it might be at the top of their mind.  But often the pain has gone on so long it’s more like a dull ache they’ve learned to live with.  Putting a price on pain is a good way to push an issue out of contradiction and into decision.  You can help by identifying missed opportunities and applying cost estimations.  Note that not all cost can be measured in dollars but measurable losses can be deduced down to sense.