Benjamin Franklin once quoted, “if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” This statement holds true for some sales people.

Sales reps move 100 miles per hour. Sure, maybe they use a CRM program or have sticky notes around the computer or simply have it all in their heads. Everyone has a process.

However, a simple method to assist both a sales rep and their sales manager would be a list of 5-7 sales action related activities that is 100 words or less. Write it down. Store it in a central location for others to view. Be held accountable to it. Review at the end of the week. Do it again.

Due each Monday by 8 am and to be executed throughout the week.

• Action item 1: Target 20 specific people and make contact with them on LinkedIn to grab coffee. Set 2 appointments. Spend minimum of 1 hour on this.
• Action item 2: Follow up calls on all existing prospects that have my proposal. Move to the next steps and set up follow up appointments. Spend minimum of 1 hour on this.
• Action item 3: Create, refine, and produce the best quality proposal. Go the extra mile to be the best. It will reflect. Spend a minimum of 3 hours on this.
• Action item 4: Update the CRM and/or Sales Cycle pipeline. Let’s stay ahead. Spend a minimum of 1 hour on this.
• Action item 5: Find a minimum of 2 networking opportunities. A Breakfast, a luncheon, a seminar, but go somewhere to mingle and get my name out. Spend a minimum of 3 hours on this.

Does it sound like a lot? Do you already do much of this but don’t necessarily write it down. The point here is to write the specific sales action related activities. At the end of the week, check off the items you completed. If you checked them all off, do it two weeks in a row. You are making progress in consistency. If you don’t check all of them off, figure out what your road blocks are. Good chance, you may only need a mirror to see the road block…that is another topic.