Good morning!
There are a number of “givens” in life. Three come to mind immediately: Death, taxes, and the need to constantly seek new business.
The age-old statistic of losing 10 to 15% of your business year to year may or may not be true. The amount of time it takes to determine whether or not that’s an old wives tale could be better spent selling. Whatever the actual number is, it is a virtual certainty you will not keep 100% of your accounts or 100% of the business within those accounts from year to year.
We know we need to prospect for new work, but we don’t.
We know we need to eat more vegetables and fruits, but we don’t do that either.
As for going to the gym and working out? Not gonna do it!
Motivation for eating right and getting in shape come primarily from two sources: divorce and heart attacks. You should not wait for one of those two awful things to happen before doing what you should have been doing all along.
Similarly, please don’t wait to lose a big account before you start looking for new business. It is insanely difficult to get customers on the line, never mind prospects. A month from now, you will be stating your New Year’s resolutions. On average, you will break them by January 19.
Were they too much to ask? Probably not.
With a wishful thinking? Possibly.
Were they not sustainable because they lacked one very important component: Accountability? Absolutely!
There is lots to talk about when it comes to the subject of gaining new business. Where the best places to look? What should the time commitment be? Are there any best practices to follow? But the “given” is that without accountability, your chances of successfully maintaining a new business selling strategy somewhere between cauliflower and sit ups.
Set goals. Find a target. Commit. All good steps. Just make certain accountability is present.
*************************
If it helps, I’ll be holding a Sales Vault Insider Workshop on the subject Friday, December 2. Want to learn more about the Sales Vault? Contact me at bill@aspirefor.com or give me a call at 781 934 7036.
