Why You Need an Accountability Partner During the Pandemic

Sales is hard enough, but can be even more difficult under pandemic conditions. And with many of us having to work home, the rules are changing. We know longer have the daily access of our co-workers for camaraderie or to bounce ideas off of.

I used to take advantage of the office setting when it was available to me. Having a cup of coffee with a colleague and listening to stories of success or failure with a client gave me the opportunity to use these stories as a way of living vicariously and to use the information for my own sales adventures.

More importantly, my co-workers and I would meet each morning and set some daily goals for activity and production. We would also hold each other accountable for the previous day's numbers. "Did you make the number of calls you said you would?" or "How many times did you close?" became frequent questions every morning.

Much like having a workout partner when you go to the gym, a sales accountability partner can help you keep your game plan in place, as well as push you to get out of your comfort zone. In my book I discuss 'commitment objectives" which are just small activity goals. This is the kind of information that can be shared with someone else.

Don't let the Coronavirus keep you from making the most of your sales performance. Find a way, whether Zoom or just a phone call each day, to meet with your fellow sales team members and have those discussions. Talk about new strategies you are implementing and any successes or failures you've had.

And of course, stay healthy.

Chris Castanes is a professional speaker who helps sales people succeed through workshops and humorous presentations. For booking information, click here. He's also the president of Surf Financial Brokers selling life and disability insurance in several states.

Comments

Introducing the "You're Going To Be Great At This!" Podcast

I was pretty surprised when I saw that my last blog post was several months ago. Time really does fly when you're having fun, or in my case, just having a busy workload. In the last few months I've been on the road for an approximate total of 9 weeks. Needless to say I get less than motivated to work in a hotel room after selling insurance for 8 hours, so blogging isn't on my "to do" list. While driving in my car during these trips I try to make my time productive my listening to podcasts on business and marketing. I'm not sure if someone was trying to tell me something but over the course of a week or so, I heard 4 episodes on how starting a podcast can help boost your business. After mulling this over and considering my options, I decided to take the plunge and start one myself. I've had a YouTube channel for a while which is fine, but I wanted to do something a little different. So I decided to start the "You're Going To Be Great At This!"...

Changing My Scheduling Calendar For 2025

This blog usually has actionable sales tips and advice to help you succeed in your business. This time, I wanted to take a look at another part of your business, which is scheduling appointments or sales calls or whatever you need to schedule. Having a scheduling calendar that your prospects can make your job so much easier. Instead of calling back and forth to pin a time to meet down, you can let your prospect/client pick their own time. According to FinancesOnline.com, online scheduling can lead to 26% more customers, so sharing your calendar is a real no-brainer. I have a Google calendar that I use to book appointments, but I have also been using Calendly and sharing it on my website and social media. The two calendars are supposed to sync up to avoid double bookings, but recently I discovered an issue. I had blocked out a couple of days on my Google calendar for a business conference, but Calendly was still showing those days as available. After trying to find a way to f...

Your Sales Call Autopsy

A friend of mine recently did some contract work for a company. The project took several weeks and the work was much more detailed than my friend anticipated. Not only was the work itself difficult, but so were the other people who he had to deal with while completing the designs and other specifications. When he was done he did something very important. He waited a few days and then took an objective look at the entire process, where he discovered what worked well, what didn't work well and the lessons he learned in the process. He even posted all of this information in a "bullet point" style on social media. With that information, his future projects will be somewhat easier if he runs into the same issues. Many people in sales and marketing fail to do this. If something works well, they just move on to the next deal. But if they hit a snag and fail to get the sale, they complain about something, usually the client or the working conditions, without having an honest ass...

You're Going To Be Great At This!

Search This Blog