We all want great results, but how many of us are willing to embrace the required level of discipline? It’s easy to become complacent and settle when you have enough occasional wins. But what would it feel like to have bigger wins and to have them more often?
If you have small wins, you can create bigger wins. If you get a result once, you can have it more consistently. The key to bigger, more frequent wins is embracing a new level of discipline.
Time to celebrate
I recently talked to one of our agency owners about a big win secured by one of his top producers. But the victory itself wasn't the point of the story.
This was one of those new accounts worth celebrating, which is exactly what they decided to do. The whole agency shut down early one afternoon, and they had a caterer bring in lunch and some adult beverages. Everyone was going to celebrate together.
The owner told me that after he had mingled around for a while, it struck him that he hadn’t had a chance to properly congratulate the producer in front of the whole team. After all, this was primarily his celebration.
As the owner wandered from group to group, he couldn't find the producer. It didn't take long for him to get a little frustrated.
Having looked everywhere else, he finally started down the hall towards the producer’s office. As he approached, he could see the door was shut, and light poured out of the office from the side window. He peeked in the window and saw the producer sitting at his desk on the phone.
He waited until the producer hung up, knocked, and opened the door. The owner asked what in the world the producer was doing. He pointedly reminded him that the office was shut down and a celebration was happening in his honor. The owner wanted to know why he wasn’t out there with everyone else!
Unexpected discipline
The producer’s response was not what the owner expected. He expressed his genuine appreciation for the celebration. He explained that he had stayed at the party as long as possible.
However, the celebration was scheduled during his prospecting time, the time he had blocked out to make cold calls. He explained to the owner that he knew this would be a legitimate reason to excuse himself from his commitment. He also knew that if he made an excuse this time, it would be much easier to make an excuse next time.
Can you believe that?! And that, I’m certain, is the very reason he had the win in the first place.
Perhaps they should have been celebrating his discipline even more than his results.
To help your producers take charge of their discipline and success, download the Q4i Producer Planning Guide today.
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