November is here! That statement holds quite a few implications for business, and life in general. The first day of November means that we have less than a month before the craziness of the Holiday Season. Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and Christmas isn’t far behind.
Everyone knows that the holiday season is one of low productivity in the business world. People take time off to be with their families and friends, and most everyone else accepts this as a part of the routine and easily dismisses the downtime as part of our culture that it is.
The best part about the slip in productivity is that those who like to take advantage of a situation revel in this time of year. This is the time when many don’t make that extra call, or send that email by telling themselves “No one in working right now anyway”; This is when the true professionals dig in even deeper and go the extra mile.
Imagine how many leads a salesperson could get if the competition was cut by over 70% for a two-month period? If no one was calling on your targeted list of companies or people? What do you think your odds would be in getting through to that person, or landing a deal you’ve been chasing?
If you find it difficult to work over the next couple months, take heart that there are many people out there feeling the same way, and if you push ahead now, you could be seeing tremendous success by the year’s end.
In the real world, you create your own luck, and one way to do that is to do the things that other people won’t do, and make that phone ring when others would just let it be.
Work Tools: Technologically Enhanced
“A craftsman is only as good as his tools”. This saying is applicable in many aspects of life, but maybe none more than in the business world.
With technology today, there is no excuse for not having that important document, or that client’s phone number. You should be accessible to colleagues and customers alike via cell phone, text message, email, instant message, voicemail, bluetooth, PDA, and any other number of gadgets and accessories.
In today’s world, there is absolutely no such thing as being “unavailable”. If you don’t receive that important call or that vital email, chances are that it is not from a lack of viable ways to get the information; it’s a matter of laziness or incompetence.
Technology is changing so rapidly that there are any number of tools you can us that serve multiple functions: Cell phones with email and instant message capabilities, laptops with VOIP, and PDA that store gigs of information and every phone number you could ever need, as well as internet access.
There are many different ways to take advantage of these products, the only thing you have to do is figure out which one works best for you and your business. Once you’ve got that figured out, you are well on your way to being more efficient, better organized, and more savvy than ever before.
Altering Your Approach: Backup Plans
Business is a fluid entity. There are ups and downs, good times and bad, surprises and routines. All of this is generally accepted as “The Nature of the Beast”, but what do you do when every aspect of your daily routine changes? What can you do when your bread and butter activities become inaccessible? Your email stops working for the day, your phone lines go down for hours at a time, or your company database isn’t working properly… This is when your professionalism comes into play. True professionals are tagged as such because they work independently and get the job done regardless of circumstance. It is an undeniable fact that things go wrong.
Where the difference is made is what people do with their day when things fall apart. As an ex-teacher, I was always prepared for the unforeseen sick day. Most schools make it mandatory that every teacher have a contingent lesson plan on file with the main office for just that reason. What I took from that experience is that it is absolutely critical to have a backup plan. No matter what your profession, if you have a plan for a rainy day, you always have something to fall back on.
Whether it’s filing, making non-critical phone calls you have put off, or just organizing and planning for tomorrow, if you don’t have a plan for what you will do, the problems win, and you lose an entire day to poor planning, and bad luck. As we all know, in business, you usually create your own luck!
