4. How much time are you spending each day learning something new?
I would say 2 hours. I am now spending a little time before I post looking for new blogs. I am trying to read each day the email "news" I get and research and learn more about the companies and things they are talking about. I need to spend more time on "learning" more about my core product.
I had believed that sales is what I needed to learn and the product knowledge would come over time and questions that are asked. Don't get me wrong I did the traditional reading of the specifications and read some things on the internet. But I need to KNOW not just my product but the others and why to choose mine and for some maybe not. It is so much more then just knowing what you are selling. What does my competition sell? What makes my product different?
I came from a service industry where Customer Service is what it was all about. It was your "selling tool". Even if the product was not the best all the time, you had your customer service. Now I am dealing with, it may not matter how friendly I am, my follow up is great, I take care of your needs. If my product is 1. not what you want 2. not the right price 3.I can not get it to you when you want it I am SOL. This was a big side track.... back on the track:
From this day forward I am going to learn something new about:
1. My product
2. An industry trend
3.An Existing Customer
4.A Prospect
I will just start with those 4.
