Short Attention Span Sales

The Weekly Sales Tip

Bill Farquharson

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Important Non-Sales Actions

March 6, 2023

As difficult as the go-go pace of sales can be, to stop and analyze can be just as difficult, but just as valuable and just as important. In this week's Short Attention Span Sales Tip, Bill Farquharson provides a list of non-selling actions to take that will make augment your selling actions.

Click on the image below to play the video.

Good morning!

Imagine you are going for a walk in the forest when you come upon a man sawing down a tree.

“What are you doing?” you ask. “I’m sawing down a tree,” he says.
“How long have you been at it?” you ask.
“Two or three hours so far,” he says, sweat dripping from his chin.
“Your saw looks dull,” you say. “Why don’t you take a break and sharpen it?”
“I can’t. I’m too busy sawing,” is his reply.

You know, one of the hardest things to do in business is, as Stephen Covey calls it, “sharpen the saw.” We are all so busy with our day-to-day activities. The idea of stopping so that we can get better, more efficient, and ultimately more successful sure sounds like a good idea.

And yet, we don’t.

Build time into your selling schedule for activities which Covey would label, “Important, but not Urgent.” for example:

Call an existing customer or two and ask, “What is your greatest business challenge right now?”
Do a deep dive into the analytics of any LinkedIn post you may have put up.
Read or reread all or a section of your go-to book on sales.
Make a video about a recent success story. Use it in your marketing.
No marketing plan? Make one.
Call clients you’ve sold to recently and ask, “How did everything go? Was the quality what you expected? Any suggestions for next time?”

None of these actions are likely to result in an immediate sale. However, the knowledge you will gain will be worth the effort. What’s more, calls to customers show you are interested in their business and you might even learn something, as I did, that results in a fundamental shift in how you see your entire business.

I recently took a break from creating Sales Vault content to learn more about how people were consuming it. It was really hard for me to do since I love the content creation. What I found surprised me and made me see my own program in a new light.

I sharpened my saw.

What tree are you cutting down? What’s your saw? And what non-selling activities can do you that will give you new insights of your own?

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