Have you ever wondered about the power of intent and how strongly it can benefit you? So many years ago, I used to run a computer consulting company where I was working and I used to hired other consultants when I needed to, but a lean and mean operation. But then Canada went into a recession, and some of my large accounts stopped paying their bills. I think it was like 30 days overdue, 60, and it looked like it was going to go 120, 180 days before they actually paid. So one day, I had this thought. It was a Thursday evening and I thought oh you know, the summer is coming up and rather than wrestling with this business, wouldn’t it be nice if I could get a job, maybe teaching people to use computers just for the summer? And guess what, it paid really well!
So I had clarity on the goal I want to achieve. The following Sunday, I wake up and I take my cup of tea, because I’m a Canadian. I go to the front door, and find the Penny Saver. And in the Penny Saver, I look at the unemployment section, and this job would be the last thing you would ever see in the Penny Saver.
Bu,t I looked there and there is a job that suspiciously looks like my job, the one I want. So I go ahead and read it. Monday morning, I called up the company, and it is an employment agency. They said sure, go see the client on Tuesday. On Tuesday I get a job that is training people to use this software package over the summer, and it paid really well.
It was just a clear example of the fact that when you know exactly what you want to achieve, and you have clarity on it, sometimes opportunities open up. So if you’re a sales person, and you’re setting your goals, it’s not enough just to set the goal, and say okay, I want to earn $150,000 this year.It’s like, hey, I am going to close three really large accounts and they should be maybe Domino Sugar and McCormick spice and should be Johns Hopkins’ medicine division and get clarity on what you want to do and it sets the radar looking for opportunities so you can get connections into those accounts and close your business that year.
So the number one rule of sales, know exactly what you want. Number two, get a plan to get there. And number three, on behalf of those two things, just look at what opportunities come your way to allow you to achieve those spectacular results.
