The Ultimate Sales Machine / Holmes 14-15

14 The key to being productive is to stick to the six most important things you need to get done that day.

Long lists also mean that you will never finish your list.

But there is an enormous psychological boost to crossing off that sixth item on your list, especially when all six of them were the most important things you needed to do that day.

...list the six most important things you need to do and, by hook or crook, get those six things completed each day.

EXERCISE
Do this exercise now and we’ll build on it as you read the rest of this chapter. Take a clean sheet of paper and write down the six most important things yo need to get down tomorrow, Your list might look something like mine:
1. Work on client proposal
2. Fax contract
3. Schedule meetings
4. Conference call with Heidi
5. Review this month’s marketing plan
6. Work on direct mail letter.

The Game of Work / Coonradt 90-100

95 Either the customer buys the product or the salesman buys the customer's excuse.

Winners are ready to play. they don't show up for the sales appointment without order forms. They don't show up without a game plan.

96 In business, too often our dedication to constant activity eliminates the essential focus on preparation. If we are to be or to produce winners in our companies, we must take time to prepare. We must take time to clearly define our results-to-resources rations for each of our key performers. We must take the time to give them the opportunity to construct a game plan, scout the competition, and build a strategy before we simply send them out to play.

97 Losers tend to general and negative. Negativism is the antithesis of a winning attitude. Negativism is the most destructive force that any of us come in contact with, because it robs up of those good feelings we should have about ourselves. Negativism is an evil force. Negativism is like a cancer of the mind.

100 Winners accept personal responsibility, whether they are winning or losing.

The Game of Work / Coonradt 81-90

89 To be an effective coach obviously requires more than creating a playbook and a file cabinet full of field of play agreements. You must be dedicate time to coaching.

The most effective way to do this is with a one-on-one uninterrupted coaching session with each player every month. Every month.

90 The Field of Play Agreement is the most important document available in American Business today. Why? Because it ensures that coaching and feedback will take place.

Feedback can never become too frequent, as long as it is honest and positive.

But do not hang onto a system that does not allow feedback form your people.

One of the biggest problems in business today is people are not being told what is expected of them.

In absence of a clearly defined field of play, uncertainty thrives and performance suffers. With a clearly defined field of play players know the boundaries within which it is possible to win.

The Ultimate Sales Machine / Holmes 13-14

14 The key to being productive is to stick to the six most important things you need to get done that day.

Long lists also mean that you will never finish your list.

But there is an enormous psychological boost to crossing off that sixth item on your list, especially when all six of them were the most important things you needed to do that day.

...list the six most important things you need to do and, by hook or crook, get those six things completed each day.

EXERCISE
Do this exercise now and we’ll build on it as you read the rest of this chapter. Take a clean sheet of paper and write down the six most important things yo need to get down tomorrow, Your list might look something like mine:
1. Work on client proposal
2. Fax contract
3. Schedule meetings
4. Conference call with Heidi
5. Review this month’s marketing plan
6. Work on direct mail letter.

The Game of Work / Coonradt 76-81

78 The ideal field of play may be represented by a square. The only real problem with the square is that it has a limit. If we were to take one side off the square and provide a growth outlet, then I believe we would have an ideal field of play for business.

81 At The Game of Work, we establish what constitutes the terminal terminal and operational out-of-bounds in our company with an "Out-of-Bounds Statement". In this statement, we spell out exactly what will cause a player to be fired, and we make no apologies about it. If employees don't like the conditions, they are free to seek employment elsewhere. And if they agree to these conditions, they are free from worry about what might cause them to lose their job. They already know what might cause them to lose it, so they can concentrate on winning within the rules and without fear.

How you define the field of play to your players is not really important. But what is important is that you do define it accurately and clearly in a way that works for your organization.

The Ultimate Sales Machine / Holmes 11-13

SIX STEPS TO GREAT TIME MANAGEMENT

12 Step 1: Touch It Once.
It you touch it, take action. That’s the first step to great time management. Don’t open that email or letter until you’re ready to deal with it.

The key to great email management is to institute a company policy that insists on very descriptive subject lines for all emails. Another rule absolutely insist on at my company is that when the subject of the email changes, the subject line on the email also changes. This is critical.

13. So change the subject line as you change the content of the email. Every client and employee of mine has to adhere to this rule in order to interact with me.

...email can be the death of good time management.

Step 2: Make Lists
Keeping a list will double your productivity right away.

The Game of Work / Coonradt 69-76

71 Great managers constantly seek to minimize uncertainty. Chuck Coonradt.

72. Before we develop our goals, we must establish certain criteria about our field of play.

73 You can't go out and start playing until your field of play is clearly and completely established. The boundaries must be in place before you can set the goals and begin to play the game.

76 Sometimes we find ourselves in a field of play shaped like a doughnut. We have a large are of responsibility and small are of authority. This is the frustration of many people in administrative roles or staff positions who are given broad parameters of what line management expects but little authority to carry out those expectations.