| Is professional development part of your goal to | | | | in favor of the man who took a break every 20 |
| increase sales? | | | | minutes. Suddenly, one of the trees fell. The |
| Yes, I know you are busy, there is not enough | | | | winner was indeed the lumberjack who stopped |
| minutes in the day, you are working with more | | | | every 20 minutes. |
| demands and less resources and worse yet your | | | | When he received his prize, he was asked about |
| company does not provide any additional sales | | | | his somewhat strange behavior. The man smiled |
| training coaching (self improvement) opportunities. | | | | and replied that to win the prize the blade of his |
| However, maybe this story may help you to | | | | axe had to be at its best. To achieve that goal, |
| reconsider the importance of a professional | | | | he had to keep it sharp and so his breaks were |
| development action plan. | | | | devoted to honing the blade on his axe. |
| Two lumberjacks in the late 1800's were vying | | | | Now think about you as a salesperson. Substitute |
| for a coveted prize - a top of the line quality axe. | | | | cutting the tree as earning a sale. The coveted |
| Each had to fell a very tall tree with many | | | | prize is your commission. Your axe is your selling |
| branches. At 8:00am, the starting gun discharged | | | | skills. How sharp are those skills? Possibly the |
| and both men began climbing up their respective | | | | reason you are not realizing your goal to increase |
| trees. Then about 20 minutes later one of the | | | | sales is because your sales skills are dull. Sales |
| lumberjacks came down and disappeared for | | | | Training Coaching Tip: You are responsible for |
| about 5 minutes. He reappeared, scrambled up the | | | | your own self improvement and professional |
| tree and resumed cutting. Another 20 minutes | | | | development first and foremost. |
| later, he returned to the ground, disappeared and | | | | There are many resources from daily to weekly |
| came back in 5 minutes. This behavior continued | | | | ezines to free e-books on sales in today's |
| all morning long and into the afternoon. | | | | technology driven society that can help you keep |
| By early afternoon, the crowd was quite | | | | your sales skills honed. Of course you may need |
| confused since the other lumberjack was | | | | to assess those marketing and selling skills and |
| significantly ahead. Then as the early evening | | | | again there are free assessments to more formal |
| shadows started growing, the tide began to turn | | | | ones such as the Attribute Index. |