10/24/2023-On This Day

Work must include joy and meaning, or else it might be time to hand it over to the bots. Being focused as a seller implies you enjoy the routine and can create fun along the way.

On this day in 1940, the 40-hour workweek went into effect under the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. The law created the right to a minimum wage, time-and-a-half overtime pay, and prohibited minors’ employment.

Why is this important to you, killer sales pro?

Work habits were redefined years before COVID-19. Heck, sellers have been working from cars, coffee shops, and ball fields for decades. And while there are now clouds and apps that supposedly enhance productivity, the focal point of work for a seller is unchanged: close deals.

Never take your eyes off that ball.

Today, strip down your activities and focus on the two areas that define selling success:

1. Close deals.
2. Fill your pipe.

Ask any of the TOP 10% sellers about their work philosophy, and they’ll tell you to simplify your activities and focus on essential selling tasks.

Today, brush aside all of the non-essential selling activities you might normally engage in – refuse to engage.

You may not be able to get away with this for two days in a row, but one day of focus on filling your pipeline and closing deals may return you to a baseline fulfillment of your work that excites and thrills you.

Are the two driving focal points of a salesperson’s work – closing deals and filling the pipeline – enough to produce a long-term, fulfilling career experience? Is work satisfaction only tied to those two elements?

Emphatically….no.

Certainly, joy can be experienced when you develop a prospect and create demand for your offering, and joy is found in closing the said deal…but the real joy comes from your approach to your work. And the bonds you create over time. It’s the little moments and fun of the day that you can help create that provide joy. Joy has to be a part of the doing, not just the getting (i.e. getting a new client signed on).

It’s interesting why it works this way, but years from now, you’ll remember the battles and how you and others solved problems for customers more than you remember how much you made in ’23 commissions.

If you know how to focus on your task – growing revenue – and creating joy along the way, you will lead a fulfilling and meaningful career.

Let the mercurial (yet always-interesting) Elon Musk help you think critically about work.

In this 2-minute video, Elon shares three work tips for "entrepreneurs," yet the same tips apply to sellers:

1. Figure out how to constantly provide value, AND, appraise your competency at this! (LOVE it. Yes…look in the mirror!)
2. Be tenacious.
3. …number three is one you should determine whether you agree with Elon…or not. It might be viewed as controversial, and MySalesDay is not totally on board. Watch Elon and you will see why his opinion is debatable.