Are You Fixin To Start?

Credit: Peggy Gillespie (circa 1992)

I love this time of year. I like everything the season serves up. I like the holidays, year end and new beginnings. I can’t remember a time when this wasn’t the case.

As a sales leader I enjoyed the season for strategic reasons. Customers are in a better mood. Conversations can be more casual. It’s a chance to reflect and get your arms around client objectives. I found the holidays to be an excellent time to learn from the marketplace.

There’s another business reason I like the holidays. The procrastinators double down on wasting time. You can see them “working on the new year.” Their offices or cubbies are full of marketing stuff. They’re “fixin to start.” They’re getting ready for the new year when they plan to put whatever their plan is into motion. They’re wasting today!

I loved competing with these guys. While they were in the office supply stores buying file folders, pens, notebooks, computers and new phones I was seeing clients. I got started while they were prepping.

Take it from a crusty old sales dude, getting started is better than fixin to start. Motion, even if it’s flawed, is better than over planning. Action puts you ahead of everyone else.

I’m borrowing this quote from a champion bull rider. I’m going to use it in the context of selling. “You never get quite ready. It just gets to be your turn.”

Translation? Dial the phone, knock on the door, make the call. You risk more by waiting than you do by acting. “Fixin to start” = failure.

Don’t waste December. Jump ahead of the procrastinators. It’s ok to plan but not at the expense of making calls.

Gotta go. There is only one way down. Last guy to the bottom buys and it isn’t going to be me! Skiing double diamonds is a bit like bull riding. You’re never quite ready.