When you get into your sixties, you begin supporting two kinds of doctors, orthopedics and dermatology. We pay for the sins of exercise (in particular, pickleball) and exposed skin. The upside is, it gives you a chance to get out of the office and do some thinking.
A big part of getting to the next level in sales has to do with planning. You need a direction. You need to figure out which customers are worth your time and which aren't. Ditto for the products you sell. But very few of us do a hard stop and make a plan.
This is where things like waiting rooms bring value.
This morning, I had my 6-month skin checkup. This is when you stand in front of a dermatologist and an intern or two plus an assistant in nothing but your underwear while they look at every speck on your body while you try not to be embarrassed and wonder, why are they always women?
Arriving 30 minutes early, I had the opportunity to sit in the waiting room, put in my AirPods, shut out the world, and do some deep thinking into a current project.
It.
Was.
Wonderful.
The simple act of getting out of the office with nothing but a pen and a pad of paper is the advice I have for you this week. Go sit in front of a body of water. Go to Starbucks. The point is to remove yourself from the noise and chatter and then turn around and examine your sales life. Think ahead six months. Where do you want to be? Make a list of the accounts you believe have more to offer you. Or just go with no agenda whatsoever.
I don't know about you, but I typically do a lot of thinking and talking about work when I'm on vacation or away for the weekend. I read somewhere your brain keeps working on issues even after you stopped thinking about them. By removing the day-to-day noise, my creative brain kicks in and ideas come flying out onto the paper.
Whether it's in the waiting room or sitting in the parking lot looking at the Cape Cod canal, a time out to just think has amazing long-term benefits.
Oh, and wear sunscreen. Trust me.
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