It has been some time since I updated this blog for which I
have a long list of reasons I can supply: people I can blame, circumstances
beyond my control, acts of God, sun spots and more. Fact is there are only one
person to blame (moi) and one reason to give: lack of discipline. My wife tells
me to stop beating myself up all the time so enough about that. Instead I will
focus a paragraph or two on why discipline is more important and more difficult
to maintain in your sales career (and elsewhere) than ever before.
My father was in sales, way back in the day. Was in the
retail shoe business in the 1950's (and downtown Auburn, NY had a host of
locally owned shoe stores) and then sold cars until he passed away in 1974.
Professional discipline was required: show up to the store on time (9AM), dress
professionally, smile and pretty much go home and forget about it at 5PM. Five days a week, occasionally six. Never on Sunday. Run an ad in the Pennysaver or newspaper and wait for people to come
in. Check! It worked.
My son is in sales, very modern day young man. As a youngster he always wanted to play games on the "puter" (a Commodore
128!) and has taken to the Internet, social media and all things digital as a
way of life, which it is for almost all young people today. They are constant
communicators, welcoming new media and platforms because they have grown up
doing so.
That leaves the rest of us, those in the middle. We learned
our trades (and many habits) from people of my father's generation and are
trying to hire, reach and sell to people of my son's generation. That's not to
mention trying to reach, hire and sell to people of our own generation who are
just as mixed up about media, communications and demographic habits and trends
as we are. At least that is my guess, based on very unscientific research of me
and my peeps. We all claim to be users (have a Facebook page and Twitter
handle) but can't say that we are totally comfortable with it or good at it.
And people still read newspapers (thank God), in fact
newspaper readership is healthy and still primarily done in paper and ink. Pew has an
excellent report HERE for that information.
So, the discipline factor. We in the middle have to use our
expertise to continue to develop great (not just good) print products that
attract readers and advertisers and generate profit. At the same time we have
to become social media mavens, not just claim to be users.
HERE is a good introduction to using social media...and HERE
is a compilation of tips to become a guru (or so they claim).
It takes practice, practice, practice to get good at the ever-changing
social media world. It takes time. Time takes discipline. There is no link to
click that makes you more disciplined, nor is there a quick fix tutorial that
will bless you with the attitude of a lifelong learner. It is within each of us, we just have to tap
it. Daily. I hate to say it but "24-7" because it is.
I never thought I would say this, but I think I am jealous
of my father.