Don’t Get Sidetracked

Increase sales effectiveness by not getting sidetracked. Sometimes, being sidetracked is good. A railroad system uses sidetracks to enable faster trains to pass slower trains on the same line. Without the sidetracks, there could be no fast trains. Trains would have to use the same track one and a time. The speed of a locomotive would be irrelevant if the locomotive has to wait for a slower train in front of it. However, in sales, being sidetracked is not good at all. It means we are pulled off to the side in our pursuit to achieve our goals to close sales. We get sidetracked from increasing business by our busy schedules. We get sidetracked from our cold calling by a need for others to like us. We get sidetracked from maximizing the use of our selling skills by always serving other people’s goals instead of focusing on our own. The optimal salesperson treats his or her day like a high speed railroad track, moving at lightning speed from one goal to the next, not taking any time to waste time on a sidetrack.