Didn’t you hear we are in the lost decade for productivity
Are we?
Yes our productivity high has now gone, bye bye
It is undeniable that social media has increased the sales buying cycle.
Yeah I said it
Back in the day, you weren’t looked at like a weirdo, accused of being scummy or inauthentic for simply selling.
Can you believe these are the words people use when it comes to the word sales? You would have thought you said you said something outrageous like you don’t like cats.
Back in the day…You simply took action and went over to someone, started a conversation (shock horror). And then you found some synergy and a handshake meant you started your business relationship.
Back in the day…You weren’t thought of as charismatic just because you could talk to anyone (I mean come on people that trait is standard).
Back in the day…You weren’t thought of as bold just because you asked for the sale over the phone (really dude?)
Now we are told to nurture our leads (erm we was always nurturing).
Now we have become people that have gone from being bold enough to ask questions and find out what the deal is, to skirting around the issue and feeling shamed when we finally pluck up the courage to ask for the sale.
Now instead of talking to 100 people a day over the phone about how your solution can help them and pick up on social cues to customise the conversation. We now talk to 1000’s of people about their problems via video with kid gloves and make assumptions about their circumstances almost like we are trying to be their bad friend.
Yes bad friend!
Relationships in sales isn’t about being the bad friend who doesn’t tell them they have food on their mouth from lunch or spinach in their teeth. Real relationships in sales is telling people hey, you have spinach in your teeth now let’s do something about it, unapologetically.
Sales are simple, it’s built on the foundation of relationships, information gathering and providing customised value, but somehow some of us have allowed the new tools to mess with our process. And our processes have a knock on effect on our results.
To be clear: If we are not being productive than our sales will suffer!
Let me back up my thoughts with actual facts, according to the latest article in the financial times
The productivity of Britain’s workers, measured by their output per hour, fell 0.1 per cent in the second quarter after a 0.5 per cent fall in the first. Workers are slightly less productive than they were in 2007, confirming a so-called “lost decade” for productivity.
Economists do not fully understand why Britain’s productivity growth has faltered since the financial crisis. Other countries have also suffered a slowdown, but the problem has been particularly acute in the UK, where workers are about 23 and 27 per cent less productive than their French and German counterparts, respectively.
Now I am not here to trump economists (after all I only studied in for a year at Brunel University). But the stats probably don’t even begin to dive deep into the stats for people that work from home, MLM, self-employed, teams that have no structure…I could go on but I think you know the picture I am painting on the canvas.
So what can be done to keep your productivity high?
1. Start Taking Inspired Action to Keep Productivity High
Inaction leads to fewer results, Our need to be seen as perfect by our peers has led to more inaction than ever. Similarly, people offering their unwanted feedback in an unconstructive way has led to people feeling judged for having an original thought.
We have grammar Pokemon’s (except we don’t choose you) all over “professional” social media platforms, causing people to second guess themselves and stopping people from showing up and taking imperfect action. Forgetting that being imperfect is what connects us as human beings. Imperfect action trumps perfect inaction.
Sidenote: It’s time to stand up for yourself: I refuse to apologise for my grammar! After all, I was not born with a pen in my hand (not only would that have popped a vessel or two in my mother’s womb but it would have also been also stop me from being creative).
2. Use Self Awareness to Keep Productivity High
3. Use Social Media To Keep Productivity High
Is there a correlation between social media increase and productivity decrease?
More than likely.
Am I advocating ditching all your social media activities, erm no!
Just use it wisely, for those that like to take action my challenge to you is this:
Use social media in conjunction WITH your work to be productive
For example, I created a facebook bot sequence that complements a daily planner on Facebook so you’re prompted to stay on track (see the link below for the example).
How can you make sure your activities on social media increase your productivity instead of decreases it?
4. Stop Boring Meetings To Keep Productivity High
Haha, I am laughing because I can tell you’re saying your meetings are not boring (get lost Ruth-Ellen). That’s like me saying I am funny (I know I am not), I accept it now.
The sooner you admit you have boring meetings the sooner we can all stop pretending.
Here is the thing…
Nobody likes a know it all (trust me).
And that is why no one listens to your ideas.
Because you know it all, you know the solution.
But no one will follow a vision that he or she is not part of the vision and will become disengaged. Many of my clients have a problem with retention & overall engagement for this very problem. But what if all this changed for you?
Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. Benjamin Franklin
Imagine if you could use one tool to be more inclusive.
One tool so others see your ideas and take them on board instead of them coming to the same conclusion you had but many months later.
So what’s the tool?
Sketching (done effectively) has so many benefits to problem-solving including planning, meetings and improving overall communication
So there we are action, self-awareness, social media & inclusive meetings will help you increase your productivity, so you don’t become one of those people that are in the lost decade in productivity.
Want strategies on to stay focused or an actual framework to stop boring meetings so that they are more productive, maybe you want to streamline your processes/systems so you can increase your sales?
Then do this:
1. Jump on a call with me Ruth-Ellen your Get More Sales Coach by clicking here (it’s the quickest way to find out if we have chemistry)
2. Grab your planner with social media prompts via Facebook messenger – FREE Daily Planner (it’s a taste of action rather than inaction after all)
3. Join Sales Mastery for FREE to learn how to sell with confidence, don’t have all the gear (knowledge) and no game (action). Remember selling starts and ends with confidence, don’t let your confidence impact your income.
Ruth-Ellen is a Get More Sales Coach, mother of teenagers, personal performance trainer, speaker & advocate of equal rights for those on the autistic spectrum, dyslexia, and dyspraxia, website developer and unapologetically awesome!
Source: https://www.ft.com/content/dbf50316-8263-11e7-a4ce-15b2513cb3ff
