Auto Focus

The phone has stopped ringing… It’s been a week… 2 weeks… business is unusually slow.  Do you over react?

I’ve discovered a growing phenomenon of sales professionals who seem to have “lost their way” as a result of a changing economy.  At one point, vision is clear and the path to success stretches on to a predictable future.  Then, for no apparent reason, when the phone stops ringing… nothing feels or appears normal.  The unexpected down time disrupts the energy and brows crease in concern.  Surely, there is something to blame - a cause that created this unnatural effect.

A typical response to the stress may be the impulse to “change” everything… update the web site, revise the logo, streamline services, add benefits, expand ad copy, buy better equipment, hire or fire staff… the list goes on.  The sense of “losing the market” grips firmly onto the salesperson’s perspective creating an unfocused, sporadic knee jerk reaction to what might be a simple issue.

The level of self imposed panic increases in direct relationship to the percentage of income earned from commission sales.  The number of phone calls symbolizes the business barometer.  When it flat lines – there’s trouble on the horizon.

Well…not necessarily.

Consider how a complex camera assembly works.  Professional photographers understand the image needs to be isolated and brought efficiently into focus by the maneuvering of levers and dials.  A non-professional usually purchases a camera that has “auto focus” where the camera is programmed to zero in on the image and like magic; the camera adjusts and clarifies the field.  Simplicity at it’s best.  That’s because a set of instructions and logical processes are already programmed in the camera.

Auto focus is a concept you can apply to your business process by understanding that shifts in the market are bound to occur.  Learn to adjust smoothly and effectively.