“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” — Henry David Thoreau
I received quite a number of email responses to my March 28 blog that dealt with the concept of going ‘cold turkey’ with your communication devices for some period of time — an hour, two hours, a day? My suggestion was that this ‘found’ time could be used to think, to plan, to prioritize, or to review your goals. I am a firm believer that this exercise will greatly increase a sales reps long term productivity (think Stephen Covey’s thoughts about ‘sharpening the saw”) and income. However, most of the comments were of a similar vein: “no way; not going to happen; can’t risk it.” Our tendency as sales people is to buy into society’s need for instantaneous, non-stop communications (think Blackberry, Ipad, Iphone, Internet – wired and wireless, cell phone, Facebook, MySpace, LINKEDIN, PDAs, CRMs, etc.), can be physically and mentally exhausting. It can also actually be a ‘crutch’ that keeps you from doing things that might actually grow your business. By the way, as an aside, it is also dumb and dangerous: texting in the car? Reading emails while driving? Think those actions through the next time you get behind the wheel (Go Oprah!!!!) Ask yourself if you’ve become a slave to technology. What is the first thing you do every morning? Read something motivational? Meditate? Exercise? Are addicted to your communication device? The receipt of an email does not mandate an immediate reply; it may not mandate a reply ever. My brother, who is the assistant principal at an elementary school in Tampa, recently shared with me his frustration with parents who drop their kids off at school in the morning talking on the phone (there is no “have a great day”, “learn something new”, “I love you”, “be safe”) and pick them up in the afternoon still talking on the phone (there is no ‘how was your day?’, “tell me about school“, “great to see you”, etc.). Continuous, non-stop contact and communication is not essential – especially in this situation. Have a great day and go sell something! To read more from Craig McConnell or for more information on PrintGrowPro, Inc. please visit http://www.printgrowpro.com/. |
