The Year Ahead

Happy New Year! May 2022 be the year you set goals, make plans, and have your best year ever.

But first let’s talk about last year. Was 2021 a good year for you, despite lockdowns?

I noticed that salespeople generally fell into two groups:

• Those who did well throughout the year.

This group worked within health guidelines and navigated lockdowns. They kept talking to people and set appointments for when lockdown was over. They had listing appointments to attend as soon as lockdown lifted and avoided the biggest mistake you can make in a boom: running out of stock.

They faced setbacks head-on and worked around them. They got great results and capitalised on the boom. They deserve their success.

Who’d have thought a boom was waiting for us when we came out of lockdown?

• Those who succumbed to setbacks and did poorly.

To be kind, these people treated lockdowns like some sort of Covid holiday. Despite badgering from their leaders, they didn’t prospect in significant numbers and ran their prospect pipelines dry.

They probably weren’t good prospectors prior to lockdown, and despite having nothing else to do except talk to people, they steadfastly stuck to their losing habits.

In failing to set up appointments for post-lockdown, these salespeople (I choke at using that name for this group) had few appointments, were low on stock, and made few sales.

How can you not make sales in a boom? It’s easier than you might think – just run yourself out of stock.

Our success is largely in our hands. We can’t control the market. We can’t control snap lockdowns. But we can control our actions.

With climbing vaccination rates, lockdowns are hopefully a thing of the past, but there are no guarantees in business or in life. By focusing on what we can control, we give ourselves the greatest chance to make 2022 our best year ever.

You can:

• Set Goals – have you set yours? Are they written down?
• Make Plans – plans that lead you to your goals.
• Prospect and keep your pipeline full.
• Train and improve your knowledge and skill.

The question is, will you? Success doesn’t happen by chance. Success is within your control. Take control – plot your course and follow it.

Gary Pittard