When you're counting close friendships, loving relationships, acts of kindness, or the gold bars securely stashed away in your secret vault, the answer is, "Yes!" It's better to have more... rather than fewer of them.
Is the same true when it comes to the tools for building and growing your business?
Many salespeople (and their organizations) believe that more is better. Unfortunately, "more" often translates to the latest technology or some "magic bullet" process for attracting new clients or closing sales.
Do you really need the latest and greatest to grow your business?
Do you need the newest and most comprehensive CRM application that allows you to not only record, but also organize, prioritize, and analyze every bit of information about every contact and every customer?
Do you need a cutting edge marketing program that gets your message out to a scientifically defined demographic, in a precise manner, at a predetermined point in time?
Do you need the latest computer applications to preload, download, and explode each step in your business development process so you can track, document, and report every interaction with every prospect?
All of the "latest and greatest" can provide some advantages... sometimes. And some can be very beneficial. But, do you need all of them? And, do you need more of them?
Probably not. In fact, they can hinder your ultimate productivity and progress.
Continually seeking new resources to make your job easier, more effective, or more efficient, sidetracks you from the actual work that needs to be done. It's a form of procrastination that has a compound negative impact. Not only do you spend time looking for and researching the next magic bullet, but once you find it and obtain it (or what you think is "it"), you must spend additional time learning how to implement it. And all of that time is time diverted from your primary objective of building your business.
When growing your business, it's not about how many resources you acquire... or whether they are the latest and the greatest. It's about how you use the resources you already have to solve the problems you face, and to create a path for accomplishing your goals.
It's about thinking strategically; understanding the true nature of the roadblocks between you and your objectives, and then calling on your initiative, skill, and determination to find a way around, over, or through them.
It's about tackling the hard tasks first and getting them out of the way as quickly as possible, rather than wasting time looking for magic bullets to make the tasks easier... or perhaps make them disappear.
And, it's about being honest with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses; identifying the strategies and skills you need to improve; and then taking the necessary steps to refine the strategies and develop your skills.
There will always be a new shiny object to attract your attention - one that promises unparalleled results. But, your ultimate success won't come from a new technology, a new computer application, a new marketing process, or a new sales tracking system. It will come from your determination to do what has to be done... and your willingness to do it to the best of your abilities.
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