Article contributed by Mark Sutherland.
Everyone I have ever coached or consulted to wants to GET AHEAD FASTER and they usually want to do it without too much stress. For years I was a fitness and performance coach for some of New Zealand’s top amateur golfers and also some professionals.
When clients who play golf see that I have coached golfers, they all usually ask me what tips I have that could help them lower their score. I offer them two solutions – get a coach to make sure you are hitting the ball correctly and practice your putting.
You see – most golfers practice slogging the ball as far as they can and they are fixed on going for distance. This is especially true of men, who just want to get that driver in their hands and wallop the ball as far as they can. My tip for them is practice putting – those short distance putts on the green. You only have to do one less putt every second hole to lower your score by 9 points. You can practice putting anywhere and really GET AHEAD FASTER with your game.
SO, what does this have to do with getting ahead faster in your business? You need to look for the simple and easiest activities to focus on first. Where are the short putts in your business that you can have an impact on immediately?
In your business it may be as simple as what one of my clients discovered. He put a sign outside his shop saying the shop was open. 30,000 people went past his business every day and there was nothing to tell them the shop was open. This equivalent of a short golf putt generated an increase in sales of $1000 a day within three days. As you can imagine he was one very happy business owner.
CALL TO ACTION – what short putts will you discover right now, today, in your business and/or your career? Stop trying to hit the ball as far as you can for a week or two and start some short putt activities. Here are some to get you started.
- Engage clients or customers with a smile and a positive attitude.
- Check your numbers to see what your best selling product is and promote it even more.
- Ask a friend or colleague to review your work and tell you what you are doing well and what you might be able to improve. Embrace their feedback.
- Review your business plan for an hour and acknowledge what you have achieved and what you need to work on next.
- Eliminate 3 distractions that constantly get in your way.
- Put a sign out saying you are open for business.
- Don’t procrastinate – START NOW and GET AHEAD FASTER
