The year was 1990. I sat behind Shirey Keith in Mrs. Pittman’s 6th grade English class sporting my tight-rolled jeans and white-blond, spikey hair. Having had a crush on Shirey since the 1st grade, it was amazing I learned anything that year. However, it was there in the third desk of the third row where I learned one of the most important business lessons which I still follow and teach. This is where I was introduced for the first time to K.I.S.S.
No, not the band. And definitely not the form of physical display of affection this preteen desired. K.I.S.S. was a way for the teacher to explain how she wanted us to craft our pending research paper. As in, “Keep It Simple, Stupid.”. K.I.S.S. has been a rule I have been following since the sixth grade. It helped me learn to write. It assisted me in becoming successful in sales. K.I.S.S. even allowed me stand out in a crowd of frustrated fathers when I made my team of 4-year old t-ballers first learn how to effectively compete in kick-ball before they were ever able to put on a glove or swing a bat.
These days I find myself married to cute girl I once crushed on who goes by the name Michelle. My days of being a successful youth baseball coach were short lived. I spend less time personally selling and more time teaching, mentoring and coaching sales professionals; mostly LO’s and Producing Branch Managers. But K.I.S.S. is still alive. It just goes by a different name.
“Dominate The One’s” was born out my love for what was taught to me some 32 years ago and my frustration with how we all in sales try to over complicate the simplest tasks in business. For example, ask a mortgage loan originator what they do for a living and see how many different answers you receive. Do the same thing with a real estate agent. Then note how few told you they were professional lead generators. Ask a professional salesperson to provide you with a business plan and then notice the plethora of varied responses that are offered from vison boards to elaborate Power Point presentations to complete radio silence. Then take note of those who did submit a business plan, how many actually included measurable daily actions versus pie in the sky lofty achievement goals.
“Dominate The Ones” is the solution to ultimate sales success while also keeping it simple, stupid. Here’s how it works. Each day, you must complete these three tasks in order to know you have done your job:
- Schedule one meeting with a perspective client / referral source
- Attend one meeting with a perspective client / referral source
- Speak with one person who is in need of the product or service you offer
If you are really feeling frogging, you can add these two tasks for bonus points:
- Write and send one handwritten thank you note
- Call one past client to check in
Sales success really is this simple. Quit overcomplicating the task at hand. If you are in sales, make sales activity your priority. Dominate the ones. If you want greater results then double up the effort and rename the exercise, “Crushing the Two’s”. However, whatever you do, don’t make what you need to do hard and don’t make it complicated. Because it you do, you just won’t achieve what you set out to accomplish. And I know this because Mrs. Pittman told m
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