I Didn’t Get to It
By Adam Radzik
Marketing & Sales Coach

(Scene: A conversation between Adam Radzik, the sales coach, and John Rusch, his sales mentee, in John’s office.)

Adam: “John, may I have your permission to close your door?”

John: “Uh oh. Is it going to be one of those kinds of meetings?”

Adam: “My meetings are never those kinds of meetings!”

John: “I was just kidding. You know I love you Adam.”

Adam: (smiling) “It is always nice to be loved, especially during trying times. But more importantly, I wanted to know if you had a chance to review your competitions’ websites.”

John: “I have been a bad boy, Adam. It’s not that I don’t want to do what you suggest, and everything you say makes perfect sense; but you know our business. I have so many responsibilities to fulfill besides sales. They took Brenda away from me, so now I have to do a lot of this follow-up by myself. Look at that pile over there” (he points to the credenza behind him and the big pile of papers that is about to fall off of it). “I didn’t even get to review some of that stuff, and I promised myself I would go through it by Friday. I just don’t have enough time.” (smiling) “Now if you were really a good consultant, you would figure out a way to give me 30 hours every day instead of the 24 I have now.”

Adam (smiling): “I’m not so sure that would be a good thing, John, and of course you realize that if you don’t devote enough of your time to selling, all this operations stuff will become totally irrelevant, as will your entire job.”

John: “True, true! But what should I do? Like my name, I am always rushing about.”

Adam: “Let me ask you a question, John. If you had a rich uncle who died and left you ten million dollars, would you create some sort of investment budget, putting some money here and some money there?”

John: “Absolutely!”

Adam: “I want you to create a budget with something more valuable than ten million dollars. I want you to create a budget with the most valuable thing of all – the minutes of your life. I want you to give me the answer to three budgetary questions, John. Write this down. First, I want you to decide how many hours a week you are going to budget for your work activities – and don’t include the list of chores that you get from your wife, Susan.”

John: “Even though the number varies a bit, I will be able to give you approximate hours.”

Adam: “Good. The second number I want you to give me is the percentage of your work hours you believe you should budget for marketing and sales. Got it?”

John (nodding): “Yep!”

Adam: “Third question: I want you to tell me what time of the day you tend to be most alert and your brain works the best.”

John: “That one is easy. I’m a morning person.”

Adam: “That answer tells me when you should be investing your marketing and selling time, because those functions require critical thinking and imagination.”

John: “So by the next time I see you I will have a work budget, so to speak. Neat!”

Adam: “You’ll find that you won’t always be able to stick to your work budget. But being organized will help you a lot.”

John: “All right. So today you earned your fee, Adam. Who is your next victim at the company?”

Comedy Corner

A Retiree Shares His Busy Life

I enjoy waiting for two hours to see my doctor and amusing myself by answering all the medical questions that the other elderly patients have. I also like waiting half-naked and shivering for the doctor, who finally comes in, addresses me by the wrong name and gives me his diagnosis. Other times, calling for my test results takes at least half an hour because none of the options on my doctor’s phone menu fit my need. Then there’s the hold time until I’m connected to the right party, or else the office staff forgets that I’m on hold and they all go to lunch. I finally hang up and spend the rest of my day yelling and cursing at the doctors who are keeping me alive. Just think about what you have to look forward to, sonny boy!