Getting in Gear for Q4

Here we are in the final months of 2018 counting down to the holidays and the start of 2019. (Did I just write that?!). Yes, time marches on and the New Year will be here before you know it.

But before we find ourselves singing Auld Lang Syne Q4 still remains in our sightlines giving us the chance to meet, or perhaps even exceed, the goals that we established on January 1^st, 2018.

Whether you feel confident about how you’ll end the year and are pretty sure that you’re going to “crush it,” or are uncomfortable because of your anticipated shortfall, you have a few more months to go at it.

Here are 3 things that you can do to make a difference NOW:

Be a better networker

Chances are you’re already doing some amount of networking but are you getting the maximum results from the time and money you’re expending? Think about your networking strategy and ask yourself if you are working your network as effectively as possible. Do you:

• Schedule a specific number of networking phone calls or appointments each week and have an action plan for what you wish to accomplish on each call or meeting.
• Make proactive introductions without waiting for people to ask you for an introduction or connection.
• Follow-up and follow-through with all of the people to whom you have been introduced.
• Stay on the grid so that everyone that you’ve met along the way doesn’t forget who you are and what you bring to the table.

Be a better prospector

Many people rely solely on referrals for their business growth and do not engage in any proactive marketing or sales endeavors. While this might be effective in the short term it is not a strategy on which you can depend for sustained growth. It is far more prudent to engage in ongoing business outreach so that you will have more control over your lead pipeline.

Be more productive

It’s important to not kid yourself. Evaluate your personal time management skills and determine if you are being as productive and efficient as you need to be. Consider these quick time management tips:

• Create a daily to-do list and create the action plan necessary to complete the tasks.
• Set aside time when you can be free from technology and focus on the work that must be done without interruptions and distractions.
• Delegate work that can be done by someone else freeing you up to attend to mission-critical responsibilities that only you can implement.
• Don’t multi-task as it undermines your efforts to execute your work correctly the first time around. Multi-tasking often leads to errors and the need to re-do work erodes any of the potential time savings that you could have recognized if only errors had not occurred.

Of course, you want to end the year on a high note. What are you waiting for? Get started ASAP and make it happen now.