Randy here with another Ramble 😉
Todays topic – Working HARDER NOT SMARTER!
Yep – I know you think I got it the wrong
way around, but hey, I’m sure you’ve heard
people say to ZAG when everyone else is ZIGing!
So yes, most would always say to work smarter
not harder.
But sometimes – the mainstream advice does
nothing but get us into more debt.
We invest in heaps of ‘Tool’s or Programs that
are supposed to help us work smarter…
But by the time we look at the investment, then
the time taken to learn how to use the tool, then
the practicing, the trial and error til we get
the desired outcome…
We sometimes think – it would have actually been
a better idea to do it the old fashioned HARD WORK
WAY. (Cos we know how to do that – we’d just rather
not).
But the easiest explanation for me to describe
comes from something I picked up from The late,
great, Jim Rohn.
He was talking about MLM/Networking, but I applied
exactly what he said to my own Direct Sales at the
time.
(We would knock on doors to make appointments to
present our products, then we’d go to the app, and
do a presentation/demostration of the product, and
we’d close the sale on some of those presentations.)
Let me break down some ‘Numbers’ to show what Jim,
and now I’m talking about re working HARDER.
In Sales and Marketing, EVERYTHING and I mean everything
can always be broken down to NUMBERS, Averages that become
industry standards.
In my own experience and example these were the ‘standards’
* Door Knocking (prospecting) – We’d have to speak to 100 people
in order to make 10 appointments.
* We’d have to turn up to 10 appointments to make 6 full
presentations
* For every 3 full presentations – we’d average 1 sale!
====
Now do bear in mind that with Experience, we get better
at each and every part of what we do, and hence our
‘Numbers’ improve as we gain experience.
====
Back to our averages at the time (twas a long while ago)
Our average order from a sale was £2000, and the average
commission at the time was 15%
So the AVERAGE salesman would have a target of 2 sales a
week to make £600 (at a time when the average wages were
around £150-200 weekly)
Meaning he or she would probably have Spoken to 200 prospects,
made 20 appointments, Done 12 presentations and closed 2 sales.
So how is WORKING HARDER a good thing?
Well while other newbie salesmen (apologies ladies, it’s easier
to write than sales/personnel/staff/people etc.)
Others were attending training on ‘How to Close the sale’,
or how pitch the finance option, how to upsell to a bigger
order, and how to get the decision on the night.
I was out – Knocking on doors!
I had listened to Jim Rohn, and decided to OutWork the great
salesmen in our company.
Instead of speaking to 200 people, I’d speak to 300
Instead of making 20 appointments, I’d make 30
Instead of 12 presentations, I’d do 18
And instead of 2 sales, I’d make 3
So instead of making 600 weekly, I’d be averaging 900 weekly!
That resulted in my becoming one of the companies Top Salesman.
THROUGH WORKING HARDER, Not Smarter!
Here’s the thing though… as Jim Rohn mentioned in the talks
I listened to and studied (whilst driving between appointments)
The more we do, the more practice we get, and the better we
become at what we do!
So the Numbers started working for me.
I gained experience, and that lead to less Door Knocking to
get my appointments, More presentations, and ultimately, the
more experience I got through working HARDER – the better
I got at presenting our products and Closing the Sale!
By the time I left the industry, I was making 3 presentations
to get 2 sales! And never had to knock a door, as the company
would give me my appointments, as they wanted me sat in front
of prospects, due to my closing rate!
So in one sense I’m sorry to burst some bubbles…
But YES – Working HARDER Not Smarter,
got me to where I could work Smarter and not Harder.
In our IM industry terms, I’m reminded of a fellow marketer(s).
(Name drop Omar & Melinda Martin)
When they first started out online they were broke, but VERY
hard working!
I on the other hand, already had a full time income I was
happy with, so I chose to work Smart, and Lazy.
The Martins just plain and Simply WORKED HARDER THAN ANYONE
I knew at the time.
Then they gained a lot of experience through their Hard Work,
and that lead to eventually working Smarter.
In income terms I may or may not have been making 10k monthly.
And through their HARD WORK, the Experience gained from it,
and never giving up – they OUT WORKED my hours…
It could be said they Worked TWICE (as) HARDER than I did.
The net result, by working HARDER not smarter – They were
‘rumoured’ to be banking 60K while I was still banking 10!
—
To this day they still work harder than most I know, and
I have no idea of their income levels, other than their gorgeous
new House, Cards, Etc. Etc. (I may know as I do speak often,
but that’s for them to declare on their tax retruns…lol)
—
So the lesson for today is Sometime – Just Working HARDER Than
those who inspire you, will lead to banking more.
THEN – And only after you become GREAT at what you do,
should you consider working Smarter!
And THAT my friends – Is why people say
‘There are NO Shortcuts’
(the shortcuts ONLY come after we have the experience to
recognise them as working smarter, as we know what we need
to do, why and how to do it. and it all starts with OUT WORKING
Those whom you wish to beat/match)
I hope that’s given you more food for thought 🙂
====
And back in perspective – Hard Work isn’t always the
answer either.
If you need a click, check the Newbie Lessons Mega Tutorial
Site at:
http://randolfsmith.com/likes/VideoRefLibrary/
With over ‘380 how to do this that or the other tutorials’,
it’s a Smarter option than searching the internet every time
you need to do something that is easy once you’ve seen how.
In this case the Hard Work option of countless days searching
for answers might not be the best route… haha
