Recently, I participated in a sales conference for AA-ISP. My goal was to focus on what I could learn from other participants more than on what I wanted to share duri
ng my two presentations.
It was a great opportunity to hear a lot of information in a short amount of time. At the end of day two, I felt like my head would explode! It was so full of new ideas, questions about what and how we were accomplishing our sales at SPI, and details on many new people I met and wanted to follow-up with.
I realized that for many months of the year I am head-down focused on our business and clients which sounds good but is limiting. To serve others best, I need to take the time to learn, grow, and stretch my mental muscles for how we can do things better and faster.
Do you ever get in that mode? Where you have no time, bandwidth, or energy to allow your mind to stretch?
Consider these mind S-T-R-E-T-C-H-ing ideas:
Start. Start what? Whatever it is that you have been procrastinating over. Is it contacting someone? Beginning a project? Finishing a project?
Take time to re-energize. Different people re-energize in different ways. Do you need: Alone time to think or rest? Contact with others who share your passion on something? A vacation? To escape in a good book?
Refocus to listen more. What is the last great idea or fact you heard from someone? How much more is there to learn if you allow yourself to slow down and hear others? Shorten your trial and error and learn best practices by listening to others experiences and tips.
Exercise problem-solving. What opportunity, problem, or challenge are you currently experiencing? Who can you brainstorm and kick some ideas around with?
Test your aptitude for learning. What can you do to challenge your brain? Consider attending an industry event, reading a Top 10 business book, or subscribing to e-zines with topics of interest.
Create. Let your mind explore and identify new ideas. Acknowledge and reinforce creativity!
Help others to stretch. Challenge those you care about to take action, consider a new idea, or break a bad habit. Helping others reminds us to do the same.
By stretching our minds each day throughout the year, we are in a better position at year-end to experience all the benefits of mental limberness!
There’s a quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes I love, “One’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” Who doesn’t need a mind stretch to be their best?
Here’s a great free way to stretch your mind if you’re in Wisconsin. Stretch yourself or your team who are in the fastest growing sales roles: inside sales. Join us for a fabulous free learning and networking event the morning of May 17th. Details for the May Wisconsin Chapter AA-ISP meeting here.
Nancy Munro of KnowledgeShift will share How Your Voice can Make or Break the Sale.”
Do you ever wonder how much your voice impacts selling success? What you will learn:
- Tips to break down what you say to increase your customer influence
- How emotion analytics can be measured
- Ways to measure how people perceive you as a person from the sound of your voice
- How to construct content of your message to accelerate response rates of voicemails
Nancy’s topic is valuable to leaders, reps, and anyone who cares about their impact on others.
Bring your team as guests for this special meeting and join other inside sales professional leaders and producers to learn and network.
What are some other ways you can stretch your mind? Leave a comment below to share your wisdom with the community! It’s also a great time to follow us on Twitter or connect with Nancy on LinkedIn.
