What's Your One Day Contract?

Salespeople should look to make progress each day

How often do you think about your job as if you were on a one day contract?

Imagine for a second that your performance for the day dictated whether or not you would be asked to come back and do the same job tomorrow. This idea was initially brought to my attention when my brother gave me Rick Pitino's book titled "The One Day Contract" this past year. 

The idea is simple and I wish that more people and companies had this mentality as part of their thinking and execution. I am fortunate to work in sales where I am often judged by by revenue numbers for the quarter or for the year. While sales results and numbers are a very 'black and white' measure, they often take months or in some cases years to develop. I often take a long term view on the growth of our business, I've started to take a one day contract approach to my mindset with customers, prospects and colleagues.

This one day mindset often reminds me about how I can be as focused as possible for each interaction or meeting that I have throughout the course of a day. By operating under this notion I find that it pushes me to think more about how I can make an impact and move things forward with each task at hand.

There are a few little things that I've attempted to weave into my daily routine that I would exemplify this one day contract concept.

1. All meetings should start with the end in mind

At the start of all meetings, make sure that you and all others involved understand the 2 or 3 things that should come out of the meeting so that it is productive for all parties involved. This enables the discussion to get to a desired outcome by the end of the meeting and sets the expectation from the beginning.

2. Be confident and get to the point

Communicating with clarity is something that everyone appreciates whether it be a phone call or an in person meeting. Einstein's quote of 'simplicity is the ultimate sophistication' can be exemplified here as I often find that the more concise you can be, the better off your communications come across.

3. Every customer, every time - no excuses.

Being in sales I have interactions with existing clients and potential new clients all day long. Meetings, phone calls, emails... all of these interactions help foster relationships and its important to be present and make an impact at each interchange. Don't assume that you'll have a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression - take the time to add value with each interaction.

I've attempted to take this one day contract idea out to a test market with some of my customers and I'd encourage you to do the same. Just imagine if your job was based on your performance each and every day. How would you change your behavior? Would you think about things differently? Would your mindset shift? 

If you or other members of your sales team are looking to become better at the craft of sales, then please let me know.

Here are a few ways that I may be able to help:

1) Grab a copy of the book or audiobook, Carry That Quota. You can order it here on Amazon or Audible.

2) Take a look at the Carry That Quota Digital Workshop Series. Here is a link to all of the online workshops.

Each workshop is less than 40 minutes and has been designed to help salespeople get better at the craft of sales by focusing on the fundamentals of the sales profession. Salespeople and sales leaders can access these workshops on their phone, their computer or tablet.