Whenever I survey an audience of business owners or sales professionals to find out what they are wanting to better understand or improve, I hear the following:
- Better time management
- Lead generation
- Sales
- Being better organized
- Having more energy
What I find is that there are three things that can always be improved that will help with these issues. The good news is, you only need to remember O.N.E. things:
O – Own your day. The majority of people get caught in the whirlwind of work and ricochet all day and wonder why they’re exhausted at the end of the day and don’t feel like they got much accomplished. Those that own their day do so by book-ending their days and segment intend everything in between.
Book-ending is creating daily routines and rituals at the first part of their day to get the mission critical things done and routines and processes to wrap up the day and be set up for the next day. A morning routine could consist of exercise, meditation, reading, and planning. Doing so energizes us and sends us into the day in a good way. An evening routine might include looking back over the day and marking your progress, updating the numbers, making two important calls, and getting clear on what’s needed for tomorrow’s work and having it in place when tomorrow’s workday starts.
Segment Intending is looking at the calendar and treating various segments with intention. It may look like viewing each appointment and project that is on the calendar and evaluating how you want to be during that segment. Do you need to be curious, compassionate, vigilant, creative, or something else to conduct that particular segment in a good way. What do you actually need to do or get done during each segment, and what might you need to have available for the segment?
Remember – Be, Do, Have.
By learning to own your day, you will no longer feel like you are sprinting a marathon, not knowing what mile you are on or where the finish line is. Own and take back each day.
Our work should be a blessing to our life and not our life.
N – Numbers. You must know your numbers. It may be a people business and it’s a numbers game. You must know your numbers. Numbers include profit & loss statements, budgets, cashflow, and balance sheets. When it comes to these statements, you must understand the story they are telling and how to make certain decisions based on the information. The information must be accurate and current. You don’t have to necessarily be a ninja bookkeeper or accountant. However, you can’t slack on your ability to interpret the information and what it means to your business.
Apart from finances, numbers also include proper pricing, and knowing your ratios between leads, prospective clients, and clients. There’s also lifetime value of clients. Knowing these numbers help you manage your sales and marketing activities.
E – Execute on your plan. Most professionals don’t have a plan to execute. First things first you must have a plan that reflects your vision and the numbers you desire to hit from the section above. It includes strategy of how to achieve the numbers and other goals. The purpose of a plan is to point you in the right direction and keep you on track. Get clear while setting up your daily book-ends and segments in between what must get done to put you on the right trajectory for achieving your overall plan.
Create your plan and get it on a page or two. If it is more than that it will probably repel you rather than attract you to view it every day. If done correctly, it becomes your game plan from which you reference throughout the day, week, month, quarter, and year. It’s a dynamic yet organic document to be calibrated on a regular basis.
Make it up, make it fun, and get it done!