February 2010 Archives

When I was in grade school there was a category on our report cards called "makes good use of time".  I remember almost always getting a - minus sign in that category.  (back then it was either a plus sign or a minus sign for grading)

Then I moved on to supervision and every year in my reviews I would get bad ratings on "delegation".

It took me a long time to decide that I need to concentrate on what I do best and that trying to control the outcome of everything will eventually lead to disaster.
So if you too are an over achiever and a perfectionist, which are traits that are common to sales people, relax....you have to relax. 

Tips for letting go a little:

1.    Don't always finish a task by the deadline.  Ok you might think that is not such a good tip, but seriously what will happen if the task is not completed by the deadline?  The deadline might be extended? Or perhaps you simply will finish the task and everything will be just fine.   Weigh your consequences carefully.  If no one will suffer greatly from a missed deadline, miss one or two and take off the pressure, after all you probably put that pressure on yourself in the first place.

2.    Try saying no.  If someone is trying to get you to commit to something and you really don't have the time, or you don't want to participate, don't lie to get out of it.  Be honest.  Say something like, "as much as I'd like to go to that party with you, I am committed to this task."   Saying no without actually saying no is a creative and polite way to capture more of your time for yourself.

3.    Eat the Frog first thing in the morning.  We all have tasks that we don't want or particularly like to do, but if there is no one else to do them then do them we must.  Tackling that task first before anything else will free up more time than you realize because chances are that you will spend more time fretting about not getting the task completed that could well have been spent doing more productive work.

4.    Know when to delegate.  If you are not particularly skilled at a certain task, don't continually force yourself into doing it.  There is a good chance that there is someone that you can recruit, hire or shame into doing it for you.  You do what you do best and get someone else to do the rest.  Summer is just around the corner and there are plenty of high school or college aged students who would love the chance to intern or job shadow for you.  You can make whatever financial arrangements you wish with them, but chances are if they are doing your filing and you are not, you will make more money at what you are really good at--and the student will gain experience that will help them down the road as well.  Call the schools now and ask to speak with the School to Work counselor or someone in that capacity who can lead you to a qualified intern.

5.    Break tasks down into smaller parts.  If looking at a huge task is overwhelming, then divide and conquer.  Take the task a little at a time; achieve a task or two a day on the project.  Pretty soon the end will be in sight and it won't seem at all like you struggled with trying to tackle the entire task at once.

The bottom line here is that if you try to be all things to all people then you are headed down a very slippery slope.  Being a control freak will only lead you to over-committing and leave you wondering why you were so weak.  Your time is Valuable, it's like money spend it wisely, productively and doing what you do best. 

 If you have been to a music concert lately you know exactly what I mean.  My husband and I went to the Rascal Flatts/Darius Rucker concert last Saturday night.  I would not describe what took place that evening as a concert, it was a show. 

Now I will show my age, which most of you already know, but a concert used to be pretty different than it is today.  It used to be that the musicians hid behind a curtain, they were announced, the curtain opened (if there was not a glitch in the rigging and only half the curtain opened), the spotlights were set and occasionally changed colors, the singer and the band played and that was it.  You know what I am talking about.

Rarely did the 'star' move about the stage, never did the star come out into the audience or invite an audience member to come on stage with them.  There were no camera men sitting in the aerial spotlights, there were no silver studded pianos suspended from the ceiling then lowered to the stage, and NEVER would there be any pyrotechnics.  (unless the guy in front of you was smoking a cigarette)  No one ever even broke a sweat. There were limited amounts of merchandise for sale after the concert.
 
Music stars, much like anyone else in sales, and yes, make no mistake,  music stars are sales people, have changed their marketing plans to meet the demands of their fans--oops I mean their customers.  The show on Saturday night had all of the elements of a true show, because that is what is demanded of concert-goers today.  If they are going to pay well over $60 bucks for a ticket, they expect to see something more than a bunch of people standing stationary on the stage. Then after the show they want to wear the tee shirt to impress their friends, AND they will pay $40 bucks for the privilege of wearing that shirt and proudly marketing on behalf of the music star.

Your customers are no different.  They will pay for service, which has been proven time and time again.  But what they really want is a show.  They want you to show them that you know your stuff.  They want you to show them that you will go out of your way to help them.   They want you to show them that you will deliver what you promised. They want to show their friends that you will give them great service too.  They want to show off what a good deal you gave them.  They want to show off your tee shirt with pride and tell everyone how wonderful you are. They may even expect you to show them that you will break a sweat if you have to in order to win their business.   It's all about the show.
 
So if you expect to stand on the stage and hope the curtain goes up and the lights go on--you will soon find out that your competition is planning a full blown show--they are out on that stage performing like a music star, and if you don't you might as well get off the stage.