The JF Guest Author Spot
Joan Paul
This morning when I opened my calendar, everything looked different. Surely someone's been playing with my computer. I could swear I had appointments booked and paying clients taking every available spot for the next two months. I must be having a bad dream. Pinch myself. Nope. It's true - I've hit the dreaded dry spell!
Entrepreneurs talk about it all the time as part of the game, but being in it is an entirely different thing. If you are like most business owners, you haven't yet managed to balance the feast and famine phenomenon. The question is, "What do you do when the famine hits?"
First of all, BREATH!!! Preferably without hyperventilating. Don't panic. Don't throw in the towel. Don't check the employment ads. Do remind yourself why you started your business. Do remind yourself of all the successes you've enjoyed and will once again enjoy. Do remind yourself if you are just starting up, that it takes time to build an active business. Do park your negative self-talk and replace it with positive affirmations, like "Today I am one step closer to experiencing the wild success that I've dreamed about!"
When things are looking a bit slow, do the following:
-Go to your database and call all the people you've been meaning to stay in touch with. Arrange to meet and exchange ideas or just have a coffee and find out how you can help them with their objectives.
-Apply a referral selling process. In No More Cold Calling™, The Breakthrough System That Will Leave Your Competition in the Dust, Joanne Black puts forward a practical approach to building your business through referrals. This simple system can propel your business through the roof without wasting business development time.
-Attend to the business planning that you may have been procrastinating about. Revisit your business and marketing plans. It will likely re-energize you.
-Find a coach. Whether hired or a business buddy, it's very helpful to have a thinking partner, someone to share with and encourage you to keep your eye on preparing for the next delectable feast.
-Learn something new. Take the opportunity to read the last business book you bought and put on your nightstand or attend a training program that's been on your to do list.
Most of all, remember dry spells are temporary and keeping perspective is critical to your success. The objective is clearly to have fewer dry spells and more feasts. However, dry spells are inevitable for most entrepreneurs. If you find you are stuck in dry spell, do get some guidance from someone who can provide insight for you and be prepared to explore difficult possibilities. As Jim Collins says in "Good to Great," Confront the brutal facts, yet never lose faith."
Joan Paul is a Certified Executive Coach and Sales Strategist. Her company, J. Paul Training Inc., provides customized training, strategy development and is the distributor of No More Cold Calling, TM, The Breakthrough System That Will Leave Your Competition in the Dust, and The Sales Activator®, an international sales management system. Joan can be reached at (403) 607-1979 or through her website http://www.jpaultraining.com
Today's News: Over at Salesopedia, Clayton Shold is in conversation with "Mr Inside Sales" the very genial, Mike Brooks - "Throw Away Your Funnel" - "Suppose someone told you to throw away your sales funnel. Would you think they are contrarian or just crazy? Mike Brooks suggests the top 20% of sales producers don't use a funnel, they use a sales cylinder. He explains how to dramatically improve your closing ratio by using a cylinder and disqualifying prospects early. Mike has a special message for the sales leaders in the audience who have grown up with, and continue to promote sales funnels." As usual, just click on the banner below.
In "Wall Street And Broken Social Trust" Charles Green articulates very well what most of us are thinking right now - you might enjoy the read.
My own view is that there is only one thing uglier than a fat cat, and that's a dead fat cat. Once upon a time in the UK, if someone introduced themselves as an estate agent, you would count your fingers after shaking hands - the banking industry has now been passed that baton and is viewed with considerable disdain by anyone with an I.Q. of more than 30.
Tomorrow: In response to the question: "What is THE most important leadership trait?" I provide the answer - for me, it is a "no-brainer"
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