Goals Not 100% For February

Well, February has come and gone. My February Challenge Goal did not get completed 100% but I am happy none the less. I learned a lot more about the importance of planning and prioritizing in my goal setting. As far as handing out the 100 Free Service Certificates, I handed out just 48, and snail mailed the remaining 52. In the following months, starting with March, I will be mailing all 100 out the 1st week of each month. Too much time taken up and I believe that I will get great response regardless. After all, we are really talking about free coupons for up to $100.00 in pest control service. Should be a no brainer. I guess we'll see.

After the first 21 days, I posted at the forum and explained some of the difficulties I ran into. My guess is that you 'sales' types out there probably knew all along that this was going to be a tough goal to fit into the time slot I gave it.

Here is the post I made at the TLS Forum. I was being asked about my stating how 'the goal was proving to more difficult than I thought', rather than using a more positive term. This is a very LONG post and I started to ramble in the middle of it. I left it intact so you could see how my thoughts were running. I might even be a little crazy . . . Anyway here it is in full.

QUOTE:

I hope that this post explains some of what I have experienced and learned during this challenge goal. I am just spit balling here so I hope this makes some sense. Or, . . . maybe it won’t. C’est la vie. Just processing some thoughts on your questions.

I suppose that I use the word 'difficulty' in the wrong context. I was not thinking about my vocabulary at the time. I tend to see difficulty or simplicity in levels. My definition in this case, right or wrong, speaks to the 'level of difficulty', or in a more positive light, 'level of preparation and readiness necessary to complete the task' in timely fashion. The term was used loosely. I simply miscalculated how much would have to go into this and the time I gave myself to complete it.

I guess that I could have used the word 'more complex', or 'more time consuming', or 'more work' instead of 'difficulty'. It is a small change, but more correctly states the lengthy work process involved in it's attainment. I had forgotten how much effort sales demands when I was goal setting, and it seems, over aggressive in setting the time deadline for it's achievement. It has been a long time. Whether it is a free service or not, it is still selling to get people interested, and to trust ‘you’ enough to try you out.

As far as 'proving', I meant that 'I have found that if all things remain the same' this is a more complex task with many obstacles that I hadn’t foreseen or prepared for. Now that I have started, I am finding that I need more time for each step than originally planned and better organization to effectively get this job done.

Twenty-One days was extremely aggressive and overly optimistic now that I have experienced what is involved in this challenge. The promotion sales planning, the formatting of and the information included in the certificate, the brochure, the covering letter, and the scripting of the phone calls and handout visits took hours and hours, and would have been a huge goal and pay off for the 21 days alone! The foundation has been laid now and that time invested will pay off all year long.

Another 'difficulty' I did not properly prepare for, and what I will have to find a way around, was the number of automated receptionists (computers) handling incoming calls, gatekeeper receptionists screening out solicitations of any kind, the amount of voice mail I was being directed to, and how few people return your calls when you are perceived as a salesperson.

Things sure change when you are on the other side of the fence, that’s for sure. Just have to adjust my approach and make sure I have several hundred names to call when I need them, or start mailing them out anyway in attention getting envelopes. Just another day at the office, . . .

What did I learn from all this?

Experience, Better planning, Organization, and more intelligent use of resources will help to shorten this process, and I will improve these as I go. I am also looking at actions I am taking that are redundant, or may be not necessary and therefore eliminated with minimal loss of effectiveness. The big one though, the initial set up process is complete, it is just a matter of continuing to do more of what works, refining the plan of action, documenting the results, and adjusting accordingly.

This is my first time promoting at this level of activity. I am finding those areas that soak up time like a sponge, and the interruptions that hinder momentum. I need to see everything involved and working in order for me to improve to get through this. Everything I have completed so far is just a forerunner of a routine I will engage in to smooth out the rough edges and complete my goal for the year. From this viewpoint, my goal challenge was a resounding success.

The time I scheduled for this goal was subject to first maintaining my level of service to the present customer base. I think that of all else, I allowed this to be my biggest obstacle. Even during this challenge, I gave new sales less priority than my existing business. In this present scenario, the following months’ challenge goals would also have a priority secondary to this. Each challenge goal’s purpose is to grow momentum, and to start a viable routine/habit to fulfill each goal for the year.

Start of Mid Ramble

The idea is not to lose what I have already started or gained by focusing strictly on my challenge goal. (Just reading this makes me feel like a wimp. Sheesh!) Talk about falling back into old habits! Maybe that is the 'difficulty'. These are merely tasks where I am starting to take action and are not do or die. Or, . . . maybe they should be. They are definitely the start of a process. The challenge is ongoing, How do I add more into an already full schedule? Start with the rocks . . . But I digress.

Or, . . . No, maybe that is a real challenge or the age old question. How do I start with the rocks when the pail is already filled with water, sand, pebbles, small stones, etc. How does one take them all out and juggle them while you start adding the rocks first?

Current Order for Time Scheduling Guidelines that I use:

1. Goal Setting and Planning – The Big Picture
2. Personal - My time Off – none during 21 day challenge goal actions, otherwise according to annual schedule of vacation and long weekends planned
3. Personal - Relationship time and date nights, scheduled with my wife and / or friends
4. Personal - Health – walk/jogging/exercise time/meditation/eating plan
5. Business - MPC - Service / Operations / Sales Promotion
6. Business - RGG - Communications / Ezine / Blog / Website
(I have been known to shift priorities short term.)

Oh great! Now I am starting to question myself again, . . .

Oh, oh, paradigm shift needed? Could it be that I have sacrificed the 'important' for the 'urgent' yet again? Could it be that simple? What is my fear here? Is it Lack of time to maintain what I have already? I schedule my time off and my wife first, health next and I do not want to change that. But, . . .

Maybe the last two should read:

Business - MPC - Sales Promotion / Service / Operations
Business - RGG – Website Sales / Blog / Ezine / Operations

Or maybe this, . . .

Business - RGG – Website Sales / Blog / Ezine / Operations
Business - MPC - Sales Promotion / Service / Operations

Or maybe this, . . . this seems right for this year.

Business Goals
- RGG – Website Sales (The Dream)
- RGG Blog and Ezine (The Writing)
- MPC - Sales Promotion (The Growth)
- MPC Service (The Paying Customers)
- RGG Operations and Admin (Paperwork)
- MPC Operations and Admin (Paperwork)

In order to really pull out all the stops, I need to overcome this idea that when I add more in, something else drops out. The only downside is that I will have another great problem to solve! Overcoming the fear of Success . . . the Unknown Quantity. Do I feel it rising up once again? Where is this leading me?

End of Mid Ramble Section

Let’s leave that for a minute and get back to my present challenge goal. I first made up a flow chart of work tasks, a routine to follow, so as to know where I am at with my prospects and my goals at all times.

Original Plan of Action - Work Flow Chart (Pipeline/Funnel)

Organization - Create filing system with tickler file, for timely information flow, and a storage area strictly for sales materials and papers

Format free service certificates and print 200 of them (always have 100 handy) Done

Format Brochures to enclose and print 200 of them (always have 100 handy) Done

Prepare handout packages (always have 25 made up ahead) Done and Doing

Scripting for Phone Calls and Personal Visits. Done and Revising from feedback

Research Trade Directories, Name Sources, and get Referrals (list all suspects, keep list topped up to 200 names at all times) Done and Doing

Prepare Hot list of 25 top names to work. (keep at 25, draw from above lists) Done and Doing

Call my top 25 - Each weekday bring my hot sheet with me and call the 25 prospective companies from hot list to confirm contact info, schedule appointments, or send mail outs. Doing this, but need to guarantee more consistency by having proper calling hours prioritized and scheduled.

Make up personalized cover letters for prospects when appropriate. Doing

Keep appointments, confirm contact info, make notes, mail out packages, start follow up routine within 2 days. Doing

Follow up phone calls – thanking for time, or confirmation of mail package. Doing

Get contact info of persons receiving mail outs when possible. Doing

Decide who stays in pipeline and how to proceed with each prospect. Doing

Snail mail post cards to prospects as follow up. Starting

Pipeline Follow Up – Planned

Check in at 30 days with new pertinent information for them
Check in at 60 days with new pertinent information for them
Check in at 90 days with new pertinent information for them
Check in at 120 days with new pertinent information for them
Etc., until I decide otherwise

Records To Keep Up To Date

Document Company, person, date, service location address, and all particulars as the certificates are used for follow up purposes.
Make contact again 7–10 days after service, get them to rate our response and results, and inquire if they need any more certificates for other properties or get more referrals.
Do up contracts for new accounts and start serving them as required.

End of Plan

Stumbling Blocks Out of the Gate

Not everything went perfectly of course. Some days I fell behind with my calls, and on others there were no calls made because of poor organizing and time challenges with service calls (priority). Also the almost constant researching of suspects for listing on my Hot sheet fell behind.

Having everything on the road and packages handy to use was a challenge I needed to solve early. Researching names and numbers for my list has become a weekend duty so I have enough to last me through the week. This goal was a huge undertaking, a full time job all by itself. Mailing all of the certificate packages is looking better all the time. I just need to make sure that the right people are receiving them.

Since February 1st, I feel as if I have been working almost every waking moment at something that will move me forward in my businesses. I am happy with the results because they show me that with improvement in a few areas, I will complete my goal of giving out 100 certificates per month as long as I follow my program above.

What I can’t control is how many people I can actually reach, how many appointments I actually get, and how the prospects react to my offer. These days you can have the best thing since sliced bread and still people will refuse to investigate it because of their own lack of time, or other reasons whatever they may be. We all have our own agenda, don’t we? I do not decide how many will take advantage of my offer, but I can control how many I give out and the work that I do.

I am aware that I might have a bit of perfectionist attitude here, and that some of this could be shortened by eliminating some steps, or changing the complete strategy somehow. The months ahead will tell me what I need to change to insure goal achievement takes place.

Somehow I hope that the above makes sense. I know that I am copying this and pasting it somewhere else, so I can go back over it and make some new decisions on prioritizing my efforts according to my big picture.

Thanks for listening, . . .

UNQUOTE

Well that's the report on my progress that I made in the forum. It would have been easier on me and probably on the readers if I had reported on my progress every few days. My apologies for that. As you can see I was in and out of 'overwhelm' because I had not allowed the proper amount of time to realistically complete the assignment. I was constantly battling the clock and I am glad that this particular challenge goal is finished. I will be back to let you in on my next challenge for this month. And yes, I have already started working on it.

Al Smith