As I huffed and puffed my way up a ridiculously steep hill in the first gear of my 21-speed bicycle this morning, I remembered what my brother told me years ago when I had to take on hills riding my one speed bike. “Keep your head down and focus on the ground, never on the top of the hill.”

His advice helped immensely. When I reached the top I was winded but I realized it wasn’t nearly as difficult as it had seemed when I first approached the hill.

As salespeople, our yearly goals loom large, and thinking about what it is going to take to get there can be overwhelming. It seems like we will never be able to pedal hard enough or fast enough to get there.

Focusing on what you are going to do today to help you get there is the key. What three daily activities are most important to your success? When you find yourself getting distracted with other things, ask yourself, “Is this activity getting me closer to where I want to be?” If not, find a way to eliminate, streamline, or delegate it. Set activity goals and track your progress every day.

Try these time-tested tips for staying focused:

1. Plan your next day before leaving the office; know who you are going to call and what you are going to accomplish.

2. Block out time for your top three activities and avoid interruption; forward your phone to voice mail and turn off your email chime for an hour while you focus on your priorities. After an hour, check both and return the urgent and important messages.

3. Keep track of your activity. If you don’t know how many dials it takes to get a connect, and how many connects it take to get an appointment or a sale, how will you know how many calls you need to make each day to be on track toward your monthly or annual target? Figure out what your activity goal needs to be and stick to it!

We certainly have to stay focused on, and drive toward, our final goal, but not having a daily plan may undermine our trip to the top.

Tags: call-coaching, inside sales, preparation, Prospecting, sales effectiveness, sales ideas, sales results