Success in anything is or should be personal. When it’s personal, there is accountability. Winning is on the line; and I believe most of us like to win. As we come to the close of the 1st quarter it’s time to look at the goals we had set at the beginning of the year and measure how we did.

Did you set goals in January? Have you taken the time to see how you compare to last year? I’m going to share something very personal in this week’s newsletter in an effort to help you and to help me. Business and personal stuff affect one another. So, what I’m going to tell you is really a difficult thing to admit. I have the uncanny ability to goal set and win in business, but struggle when it comes to my own personal well being.

If you know me personally, or look on our website, you know that I’m not a skinny person. You can bet I set weight–change goals in January. I did not win during the first quarter. The thing I did do, was to get to the gym on a consistent basis. However, the food piece is hard for me. I have a million excuses, the top one being that I live on the road. I got to thinking about those excuses and how they are so similar to the ones that we use in business. We start adjusting for failure when the numbers don’t add up instead of planning for success so that we can reach our targets. Stuff comes up every day that detracts and distracts us from meeting our goals. I know for me, that when I pass that Popeye’s Chicken place in the Atlanta airport, or the DFW D terminal, it is VERY difficult to resist that wonderful spicy chicken and the red beans and rice. Without a firm committed plan – I am subject to ingesting a bazillion calories! It’s the same with sales. If your goal is to make 6 calls every hour and someone distracts you with a 30 minute conversation, then without the plan it is very difficult for you to stay on track. I think we make a deal – you stay on track because you’ll sell more with more contacts and I’ll resist red beans and rice at all cost!

Here’s what I’m going to do. I make a commitment to you in an effort to help you commit to your sales goals. Our blog is a place to have good conversation with others in the industry. It is a great place to publically state your sales goals.

I’m terrified to put this out here. However, I’ve had this weight battle most of my adult life. I don’t need it. It’s not healthy. If I have to ride in coach (which doesn’t happen often), I’m miserable because I’m just too big. So, I feel like if I publically state my goals and commitments to my own personal journey I can be successful. I also feel like if I can inspire you to publically state your goals, you can have a second quarter that you only dreamed of.

What should that commitment look like? For me and the personal journey I have a measureable number to reach. I think that makes sense for you too. Look at birthday sales, group sales, and total sales. Pay attention to where you were last year and what can get you to a healthy level this year and set that goal. My personal target for the next 12 weeks is to lose a minimum of 24 lbs.

When it comes to goal setting, I don’t think the big target is the best way to get optimum results. A lot of stuff has to happen on a daily basis in order hit that target. If we look at your birthday sales, group sales, and total sales and break out what has to happen to get you to your goals, then you must look at the day to day activity that you need to commit to in order to be successful.

TOOLS FOR SUCCESS

We have a cool new set of posters that you can use to target group sales. These posters set selling up like a baseball game and focus on daily contact with schools, churches, and companies. If you would like the file that has these posters, then state your goals on the blog and we’ll send them to you for FREE. If you are already a member of Xpress Training, then the posters are in the tools section already. (I still would like to see your goals).

For me personally, the day–to–day effort that makes me most successful in my personal journey, is that I begin my day in the gym. I plan my food for the day – so I’m not tempted by Popeye’s. I clear out any chips or cookies and stay far away from the places that have them. I decide at the beginning of the day, and the week, what my choices and my goals are. I use tools. I log my food into a weight watchers journal on line. This is not different then you logging your calls and the results on a daily basis. You can look back and understand your success or failure so much better when you write it down.

I have a trainer that I report to and who kicks my living “big” butt when I’m at home. Do you have a manager or a coach that is working with you? Find one. We can do that for you if you don’t have a sales coach.

Finally, be truthful. Don’t make excuses. Make the commitment instead. If you are having 10 parties a week and you want to do 12 for the next 12 weeks, write it down. Post it here. Get the tools you need to be successful.

If you’ve made it the end of this week’s long article, thank you for giving me a forum. There is terror in making this personal commitment so public but I haven’t found a way to get successful yet. Post your commitments. We’ll check on one another; and I’ll keep you posted on my journey. We are 12 days in and I’m 4 pounds down. You build your sales and I’ll build my health. We can do it – one party and one pound at a time!

Happy selling!

Good luck with training your staff during this new year of 2010. If you have any questions, please feel free contact me at beth@trainertainment.net.

Beth contributes an article monthly for Replay Magazine – it is titled The Party Professor. If you would like to have access to the archive of “The Party Professor” articles (and much more), sign up for Xpress Training^TM TODAY!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 at 9:55 am and is filed under Sales Ideas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.