Employ 7

Doing your approach calls first is not only the most important activity in the business, it actually helps you be more effective in everything else you do afterwards. In case this is a tad bit perplexing, allow me to explain:-) In the last post (employ 6) I mentioned that you might struggle with whether or not to return calls, or emails, etc. first. Well, quickly as an aside, emails you never worry about first...because nothing of an urgent nature should ever be communicated by email alone (as a secondary follow up is okay). Email is simply not an urgent medium of communication for most of the population...and that's who you are dealing with. Your return calls should be handled this way to be time efficient: check your messages BEFORE you get home. That way you won't have to take the time to do it from your desk (because you are multi-tasking and doing it on the way home or in some other down time), and you will know the nature of every message.



This way you will know if there is a return call that becomes an exception to the rule of make your approach calls first. For me, this would be a prospect who is expressing serious interest and calling ME, or someone in the organization with a serious prospect who is specifically requesting to speak to me at the time I would sit down to work. Now, both of these calls will put me in a great frame of mind for my next approach calls, and are of the right importance in nature to go in front of doing the approach calls.



The reason approach calls first helps you to be more effective afterwards is that you are filling your pipeline further. The key to being highly effective in helping people to become customers and business builders is to serve them and what they need to know and what their needs are and what their urgency is...it has nothing to do with you wanting them to be a customer or builder. The more people you have in your pipeline who are at various stages of learning and evaluating, the less you care about any single person's response or decision. It would be great if I could wave a magic wand and make you not worry about or think about the people who are not receptive to you. If my magic wand could help you fully "get" deep in your being that your job is to share, serve, and help, and put other's first and over time all your needs will be met, or that it is a numbers game first and THEN a people/relationship business. But I don't have a magic wand.



The more people in your pipeline, the more you will naturally be communicating with those most interested at the present time...the more fun the business is. Part two if this concept is that every new approach you make has unlimited possibilities. This one contact could be the best builder in the history of the company or lead you to the person. They might be your best customer and most raving fan and lead you to many customers. You never know. This is the potential of each approach you make. Each approach is a "Brick in the wall" which I will talk about in the near future.



So, by approaching first you instill all kinds of new possibilities into your business and it gives you great energy to then go into the next thing you should do....