To be comfortable in life, get out of your comfort zones in business!

Habits are easy to get into and often hell to get out of, and enormous numbers of managers and sales people have chosen work habits that restrict their business performance…and therefore the quality and enjoyment of their life out of business too. Here are the good habits that must be formed:

Comprehending business success. This refers to the constant need to learn about what causes organizations and individuals to achieve success in sales, management, marketing, etc. For most sales people and managers, the learning challenge is faced very few times each year, possibly via an annual conference and formal training sessions ‘now and then’. Sales meetings may occur more often but they rarely offer insights into success; instead they usually focus on performance to budget, problems, product knowledge, etc. This is a form of mental starvation, whereas the most successful people in business become involved in a dietary form of learning, through books and other forms of study. The best kind of educational development addresses generic and specific paths to business success, referring to high-level philosophy on the one hand and winning case studies on the other. In my own case, I used to read the books of Peter Drucker and Harold Geneen, as well as finding and experiencing the best speakers on management and sales. And these days, as regular readers of this article format would know, I write 50 essays each year…which is a very serious form of reverse learning, in the sense that ‘having to write’ forces me into research on virtually a daily basis! Every time I attend a meeting or fall into informal discussion with anyone in business, I find myself making notes about potential new articles, and no matter what readers may gain from my weekly articles, I acquire valuable knowledge and renewed motivation with every written work. This output also helps me to improve all aspects of my work! This is the first habit because the knowledge and motivation gained ignites the will to work and win.

Committing to business success. When we understand the paths to success, we naturally want to move in that direction, and so as we plan to go on a holiday first and then determine the best way to get there…so must we plan to ‘move forward towards success’ before learning how to reach our goals. As stated, I have a commitment to write an article such as this one every week, come what may, and so each week I have to buckle down to the new writing task. Without this firm commitment I would perhaps write ‘when time permits’, or when ‘I feel like writing’, and both approaches would fail…and then so would my business, followed by a slide in my personal lifestyle. My advice is to make a promise to engage in some form of positive, new business-building action every week or month, perhaps using ‘focus 5’…a plan involving a mix of 5 customers/prospects where you plan to ‘create success’ for the target and your business. When you commit to action, you learn to get the best out of yourself…which is why the obligation must take place every week or month.

Creating business success. It is not possible for anyone to succeed in sales or management if they do not clearly understand how success is achieved…and without a commitment to take action to create success, the only hope anyone has of consistent and growing achievement is…hope. The best way to achieve success is to sell success, which equals a result that is much better than what the customer or prospect enjoys now. Most suppliers sell products, not improved results, and so the market is wide open for you to succeed…providing that you sell progress first and then your products. However, to do this you must start by respecting what customers and prospects do now, and then show a better solution for the future, which is where they will spend the rest of their lives. In other words, you must be perceived as ‘an improver’, not ‘an intruder’.

With these three positive habits you can construct both strength and reputation in business, which in turn will provide the opportunity for an enjoyable and very comfortable life for you and your family.