Work Hard Now, Play Later

Full disclosure: This sales tip I am about to present? I completely suck at it. My wife and I were discussing this recently and I admitted that once I get working, it’s difficult to stop. It’s a nice problem to have, but I love what I do and I am so excited about this new Sales Vault idea that I am fighting the urge to work all day every day. But I digress…

I think bears have the right idea. Hibernate now. Come out and play later.

January and February are cold and dark. Why not just crawl into a hole and go to sleep for a couple months? Alas, the sales species cannot afford two months of nothingness. As such, here’s an idea for you …

One of the best parts about being in sales is the ability to control your schedule. Generally speaking, outside salespeople choose when to start their day, how to use their time during the day, and when to end their day.

Why not use these next few weeks to put in some extra hours? This is perhaps the only time of the year where you will hear me give this advice but I figure it this way:

Work hard now, play hard later!

That is, think of your workday as a bank account. This extra hours are like throwing extra money in to the kitty. Keep it up and you will have more than enough to see you through the summer slowdown. The momentum you gain from the additional sales activities is sure to benefit you during those warm summer months, leaving you nothing to do but work on your chipping and putting.

But also (and managers are going to hate me for this), see that bank account as a retirement plan, one where you build up a surplus of “extra hours” that can then be drawn upon on a warm summer’s day you might want to enjoy.

Let me be clear on a couple things here, lest I receive angry emails from sales and production managers. Sales reps have responsibility to the company. They have a responsibility to the production staff. Skipping out mid-day on a warm, cloudless summer’s day is a rare exception, certainly not the rule. My point here is this: It’s at this time of year where you want to be the most engaged and busiest at work. You earn more business. You earn the right to throttle back a bit later in the year.

I have to go. It’s Saturday morning and there is a lot of work to do on The Sales Vault.

See? I told you I suck at this!

Join me in The Vault to continue the conversation. Post your answer to this question: What percentage of the time do you feel yourself having a truly productive sales day?

The Sales Vault is now open. It contains hundreds of sales resources, archived content, training videos, and live weekly events. Go to BillFarquharson.com for more or call Bill at 781-934-7036.