The Day Before and the Man Next
Door is a powerful formula for that I learned in my
earlier days as an outside salesperson. I was reminded of it while listening to
an audio tape by Zig Ziglar, so I thought I would share it.
The day before simply means to take time before you end your
day to plan your next day. I use a system that I learned from the story of Ivy
Lee.
Ivy Lee was a consultant during the industrial revolution.
He called on the CEO of a company who said “How can you help me get more done”
Ivy’s advice was before you start your day make a list of
the six most important things that you had to get done. Number that list in the
order of importance. Start with first item and stay with it until you can do no
more on it and them move to the next item. If you only get three items done
because they are the most important, you will have had a productive day. The
next day, do not carry the items forward, make a new list.
Ivy Lee told the CEO to try it for a month and send him
whatever he thought the idea was worth.
The next month the CEO sent Ivy Lee a check for $25,000 with
a note saying that it was the most valuable idea from a business perspective
that he had ever received.
Try this idea for a month, see what it does for your
business and then send me a note to let me know how it works. Checks are
optional 
A few suggestions:
Choose the time that is best for you to make your list.
Some people do better before they start their day, others do better the night
before. I’m a night before person. I find that if I go to sleep after planning
the next day on paper, it helps me sleep better. When I skip it, I find my mind
keeps thinking about all I have to do the next day and my sleep
suffers.
This is from Zig Ziglar. Make the first item on your list
your most unpleasant task. If for example you have to give someone some bad news
and it’s number five on your list, you’ll keep worrying about and it will effect
your performance. Get the unpleasant task out of the way first and the rest of
your day can only get better. As Zig Ziglar say, “The longer you look at a frog,
the uglier it gets.”
If it works in your business, do the same for you family
time, your recreation time, your hobbies and other personal items.
Now to the “The man next door”
When I was in outside says, after making a sales call. I
would make it a point to call on the man next door. I would keep doing this
until I ran out of doors in that area. This had a powerful impact on my
productivity.
I still use this formula but apply it to my call list. If I
make a phone call. As soon as I hang up the phone I ask myself, who should I
call next and keep doing it until I run out of ideas. These are not always just
business calls, in fact, usually they are calls that I make to try make
someone’s day a little better. A thank you, a call to tell someone how important
they are to me, a call to recognize someone’s accomplishment. You get the idea.
I then follow up my calls with a greeting card with note in it. Try this idea
for a month and you will be amazed at the magical things that can happen in your
life.
Question: Did you
make your list today? If not, why not? Who’s day are you going to make better by
calling them? (Try for at least 3 people a day)
I hope you found these ideas helpful. Please drop me a note
and let me know how they work for you.