Confessions of a closet slug

Do you ever wonder how you'll ever accomplish everything you need to do? That's how I feel all too often. I get to my desk at 7:30 to tackle emails. I work through my lunch hour. And, at the end of the day, it seems I've barely made a dent in my to-do list.

Here's the truth. I like telling people I'm crazy-busy. It makes me sound important. And, even worse, I'm a closet slug. All day long, I make bad choices that contribute to my predicament.

But on the upside, I've learned how to compensate for my slothful behavior by increasing my sales effectiveness. Here are two strategies that have worked for me:

1. Pinpoint prospecting. Instead of dialing for dollars, I have learned to target companies that offer a higher likelihood of success. And, I look for specific trigger events, such as stagnant sales or new strategic initiatives, which create a greater need for my services. The result? Fewer calls but a lot more hot prospects.
2. High quality meetings. I spend tons of time prepping for every single call, meeting, presentation or proposal. I research, I plan, I write out questions and agendas. Because of this, fewer prospects are required to get more and bigger sales.

Being a closet slug has taught me to be more efficient and work smarter. But I still think it would be nice to have a few more hours in the day!