Proverb of the Day: Diligence and Planning
“The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, but everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty.” Proverbs 21:5
What I like about this proverb is that it highlights one of the key attributes of the diligent: they plan. I catch a lot of flak about asking for plans, especially when it comes to documenting plans for accounts or specific opportunities. But the reality is – plans form good roadmaps and lead to success. One of the best plans is the one you take to your customer and confirm. “Is this the right process we need to go through in order to achieve success in this project?”
The problem is that planning takes time. What the proverb tells us is that the diligent see the wisdom to effective planning, and it puts them at an advantage. The converse of not planning effectively is that it leads to being hasty – I think in terms of being reactive rather than proactive. And that leads surely to poverty. In other words, you lose the deal!
The surest and quickest route to success involves planning how you are going to get there. I would not set out to drive from Raleigh to Dallas without getting a map and planning my route. It may take an extra fifteen to twenty minutes to map out a route and print the maps, but think how much time I'd lose by making a wrong turn.
Same holds true in sales regardless of your position as a territory sales rep or a big accounts sales rep. Sitting down and thinking – getting input and buy-in from others, and documenting the plan, is on the critical path to the fastest way to regularly overachieving goal. You might get lucky one year, but what we all want is consistent success.
If you are not a consistent planner, there are a couple of possibilities: maybe you are not as diligent as you would like to think you are; or maybe you are diligent, but you just are not enlightened. Well for the latter, here's an area for personal development, a chance to grow, improve, and get enlightened. For the former, here's some advice a friend gave me years ago about getting along with my wife: “George, if you don't learn to listen to your wife, you'll learn to listen to your second wife.” The proverb tells us that becoming an effective planner is on the critical path to consistent success. You can learn it in the job you are in now, or learn it in your next job.
Posted at 08:38AM Mar 21, 2008 by George Miller in Personal | Comments[0]