Coach Dan Foster | Purpose Driven Broker

We are three weeks into the new year and I recommend that you pull out your business plan and review it at the start and end of each day for the next two weeks. Yes, I know it is still early in the year, but the three week mark is usually when our old habits show up and our endurance level can start to wane. You are going to need the inspiration and vision you casted in these plans to help keep you focused on your high-payoff activities and priorities.

Early on in my career I learned that working by referral only was a comfortable but unsuccessful way to run a sales business. In those formative years I believed the only true way to stay in the business was to focus on the people I knew (sphere of influence). I was told people who were cold calling, door-knocking, and doing other selling activities that helped them meet new people through hard work and determination were crazy and wasting their time. I discovered quickly that nothing is further from the truth and the most successful sales people follow a Business Growth Formula that yields consistent business growth year after year regardless of the type of market. The formula is simple and one that by referral only agents are missing out on:

A simple formula for building trust and credibility with past, present, and future clients is:

Demonstration + Proclamation = Credibility

I learned this formula from John Maxwell and implemented it into my marketing plan right away. I found it to be a fantastic way to help me increase the level of trust and credibility that I had with my Sphere of Influence and farming area.

I created this list of questions that I think all professionals need to reflect on as we come to the end of another year. I will be taking the next two weeks to reflect on the last year. I’ve been recording successes and challenges, prayer requests and answered prayers, frustrations and blessings in the hope that I will be able to see the bigger picture of what is going on personally and professionally for me. These 13 questions are not exhaustive but they are the ones I will be answering before January 1st 2010. On January first I will begin to put into action a plan to ensure that in the near future I am able to answer “Yes.” to all of these questions.

As we finish a less than ideal year for many sales professionals the temptation to create a grandiose career saving plan for the new year is strong. However, there is danger in this type of plan because it often results in unrealistic expectations, goals that are not achievable, and pressure on ourselves that leads to an unbalanced life. Our challenge is to create a plan that addresses our current reality while at the same time stretches us personally and professionally.