Fighting Inertia!

Inertia defined is: a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged. Further defined as a property of matter, well you remember Newton's First Law, an object at rest...and on and on.

Inertia in business is a silent killer. All day, every day inertia is killing great ideas, stalling execution and sucking the motivation out of people in companies around the world. I don't want to hear the argument that doing nothing is, in fact, doing something. I don't buy it.

Doing nothing sucks. 

My personal experience over 30 plus years tells me that staff, who are actively trying, stand a high chance at succeeding. If you are in a bad spot at work, not trying will confirm your undesired position. For reference, I manage Marketing, Sales and Relationship Management functions for a living and have for a long time.

So let's pick on Sales for a minute. I have hung on to poor performing sales people for a long time. I employ the following thinking about folks who aren't bringing in deals; if they are showing up for work, following the process we have for sales and have the passion to come back and do it each day, I will keep them forever.

Why?

My experience says eventually things will change and deals will start to close. The caveat here is the assumption that you have a real product or service and there is demand for it in some market. 

Activity based management is my job. I manage the activities and keep the team motivated to perform more activities. Whether it's lead generation or walking a prospect through a process, it's all the same. If you stick by your team they will eventually get there. I used to work for a pro who said:

"Keep trying and if you do something good tell everyone so you get a pat on the back. If you do something bad tell everyone so we don't do it again."

I believed him and wasn't afraid of getting fired or the repercussions if I didn't close. That was 15 years ago and I am still using his line with my teams today.

Personal anecdote: When I was a kid I remember a girlfriend had dumped me for another surfer. I was totally bummed for weeks. My grandmother, who you could have put on a calendar of the all-around best grandmothers, leaned over and whispered in my ear "don't worry Christian, it doesn't always hang to the same side." It took me a while to figure out what she meant both literally and figuratively but I finally got there. Her advice was "just keep trying" said another way. 

Activities based sales management rules the day for me, invest in your team and help them by creating a good culture. They will pay you back with trust, hard work and all the extra miles you will ever need. 

My Best,