Just in case your parents never told you the story:

The Tortoise and the Hare had a race. The Hare, being more gifted and talented, burst out to a quick lead. Assuming he had the race in hand, Mr. Hare chose to take a nap - during which time Mr. Tortoise plodded right by the sleeping bunny. When Mr. Hare awakened and realized the situation, he busted his little cottontail as fast as he could but it was too late. Mr. Tortoise had already won the race.

Both managers and salespeople too often approach their jobs the way Mr. Hare approached the race. They set a goal, work hard in small bursts, and then snooze through the rest of the month. Then, when the last weekend approaches, they try to create whatever sales they can, usually falling short of the goal.

Case Study

Jim was the new kid on the block and his 3 months in a row at #1 still didn’t convince one of his managers that he knew what he was doing. So, during an extremely slow “last Friday” one April, the sales manager was in a panic and asked Jim to get on the phone and call everyone on his follow up list.

Jim, who had 16 cars out at the time, casually replied that he’d already done his follow up and prospecting calls and that he had set 4 appointments for the weekend. Since the General Sales Manager had trained Jim to do his follow up this way, there wasn’t much the other manager could say. Still, she convinced the two other salespeople to get on the phones.

Jim actually sold 51/2 cars that weekend including all 4 of the appointments. Three of the appointments were the result of several months’ worth of contacts and correspondence. None of the other “appointments” that were set in the panic even showed up that weekend.

Jim’s practice of consistent, regular follow up and prospecting resulted in consistent and regular business. That’s why Jim remained #1 and never had to worry about what day of the month it was.

To learn more about effective daily marketing activities and behaviors, sign up for our “Business by Appointment” course.