It’s really easy to lose the day, the week, the month or the year putting out fires.
I’d like to offer you a way to design yourself around RESULTS instead just responding to what is in front of you. You can get better Return On Energy (R.O.E.) by self-coaching through these three questions every morning before email – over a good cup of coffee:
- What are my next actions to line up visits?
- What can I do to bring in dollars (to fund the impact) today?
- What am I doing to advance the ball with my top 10 prospects?
Q: What are my next action items to line up visits?
A: Simply, TAKE ACTION.
Visits and asks – advancing and maximizing relationships – is the lifeblood of philanthropy. If ‘dollars raised’ is a productivity output, then this is the measurement that gets you there. Are you scheduling visits this week or next? If not, there will be no new funds to show in 6-8 weeks (plus or minus).
Q: What can I do to bring in dollars (to fund our impact) TODAY?
A: CLOSE existing asks.
I don’t care about adding more or new prospects if we’re not doing follow-up with existing and previous relationships – i.e., if we’re not closing. Adding more to a bad process does nothing. Trust me, it’s much easier to ‘close’ that visit from three weeks/months/years ago than it is to open a new door.
Q: What am I doing to advance the ball with my Top 10 prospects?
A: Set Goals. Engage Natural Partners. Get the Visit. Hit a HOMERUN.
This one is all about the S.F.P. – Self Fulfilling Prophecy. Focus on your top 10 – a little bit – each day. Most people look at the number one prospect and think, “Well, that’s a long way off” or “We don’t know them.” Then they open their email and respond to all the urgent but not important requests. This becomes a routine. Over time we never define the action steps that get us a visit with our top 10. The funds (potential and real) from those prospects can never be made up, nor can the leadership and connections.
Special Note: We had an attendee who raised a question at this week’s Boot Camp, “I’m a one person development shop working on a $5M goal. Should I be doing newsletters?” Using the self coaching model it’s very apparent that the answer is NO. As a Sales Person, your best R.O.E. is:
Setting Up and Executing Visits.
Close existing ASKS.
Advance and Maximize your Top 10… A.S.A.P.
