Local radio sellers fight procrastination most effectively by treating it as a revenue problem, not a personality problem.
Everyone can fall prey to a rut. Don’t pretend it can’t happen to you.
A seller usually procrastinates on the activities that create the most discomfort: prospecting, asking for appointments, following up, asking for referrals, requesting the order, or reapproaching someone who said no.
This is, believe it or not, a human reaction that can almost be expected. Unfortunately, those are also the activities most directly connected to future revenue.
Here are seven steps to a practical fix:
1. Start Your Day With Revenue-Producing Activity
Don’t begin with email, paperwork, production questions or internal meetings if you can avoid it. Protect the first serious selling block of the day for:
Calls. Appointments. Follow-up. Referrals. Proposals. Closing.
A simple rule: Do something that can create revenue before doing something that merely feels productive.
2. Measure Time Spent Selling™
A seller can be incredibly busy and accomplish very little. Track actual selling time for one week. Count time spent talking with prospects and customers, conducting CNAs, presenting solutions, prospecting and asking for business.
Don’t count rearranging the CRM, answering routine emails or discussing accounts internally. Once sellers see the number, procrastination becomes visible.
3. Use The “Next Action” Rule
Big objectives encourage avoidance. “Get Smith Plumbing on the air” feels complicated.
Instead: “Call Susan Smith at 9:15 and ask for a 20-minute meeting.”
Make every opportunity have a specific next action, person and time.
4. Create A Daily Prospecting MINIMUM
Prospecting shouldn’t depend on mood.
For example: 10 new-business contacts before lunch.
Or: Five meaningful prospect conversations every morning.
The precise number matters less than developing a non-negotiable rhythm.
5. Attack The Uncomfortable Call First
Every salesperson has one call they keep moving down the list. It’s more fun to go on the offensive. Make that the first call. The psychological payoff is significant: once the avoided task is finished, everything else becomes easier.
6. Shorten The Distance Between Thought & Action
When you think: “I should call them…” Call them.
“I should ask for the appointment…” Ask.
“I should follow up…” Follow up.
Great sellers develop a bias toward action.
7. Connect Activity Directly To Money
Suppose a seller discovers historically that 100 quality contacts lead to 20 meetings, lead to 8 proposals, lead to 3 sales, lead to $12,000.
Suddenly prospecting isn’t an annoying activity. Every quality contact is statistically worth approximately $120 in future revenue. That changes behavior.
The Bigger Lesson For All Of Us
Procrastination feeds on ambiguity. Revenue grows from specific activity repeated consistently. Local radio sellers don’t need more hours in the day. They frequently need more discipline around the hours they already have. Make it a game and make it personal.
My favorite question for a salesperson at 9 AM would be: “What are you doing in the next 60 minutes that could put money on the table?”
If there isn’t a good answer, that’s probably where the revenue problem begins.
