"If I were trying to make a living playing golf, I would keep a diary."
—Harvey Penick, master golf pro
Years ago, when I still entertained illusions about becoming a scratch golfer, a friend recommended And If You Play Golf, You're My Friend by Texas teaching golf pro Harvey Penick.
It was the first of several golfing books by Harvey I read, all full of wisdom, as much about life, heart, character and success as about golf. Harvey takes such an engaging, common sense approach to the game that you would enjoy reading him even if you never pick up a club.
The one chapter that still stands out in my mind in that book is called "The Erratics". In it, Harvey writes about the many talented golfers who never become champions because their play is too erratic. One day they're hot, the next they can't seem to make crucial shots. Winners perform consistently, putting together four good days of play to win tournaments.
The same is true in sales, publishing or almost any field of human endeavor. The winners are able to put together consistent performances, day after day.
Think for a minute about how many hot shots have come through the door at your newspaper, jumped out to a commanding lead, burned out early, folded in the stretch and are no longer there.
Whether you're a publisher or a sales executive, you want to perform at your peak consistently.
Harvey writes that keeping a diary is the best way he knows to keep score, analyze your performance and detect patterns that will help you perform your best—consistently.
In his diary, he writes, he would note such simple things as, what did he have for dinner? Who was he with? What did they talk about? How much did he sleep? How did he feel physically? Was he tired? How did he feel emotionally? Was he upset about something? Or was his mind clear and his heart serene? Was his energy high or low?
Those are important benchmarks to a professional athlete. But you can see the analogy and how it applies to us in newspaper advertising sales.
Harvey writes that he would fill out his diary the last thing before bed and would never skip a night. What good would that do? By reviewing his diary entries, he would see patterns emerge.
His diary might show for example, that he performed better on days after he had enjoyed spaghetti for dinner with a few amusing friends and watched a funny movie before bedtime.
"There is no predicting what the diary might show," Harvey writes, "which is why keeping the diary is important."
I keep a diary daily. I use a little spiral bound book I keep beside my computer in my office at home. I've tried keeping my diary in my computer. But I've found I can just grab the diary and make notes on my day in bed. My wife—our publisher and my partner—seems to take a dim view of me bringing my laptop to bed with us.
In my diary, I note such things as:
When did I awake? I'm usually up at 5 a.m. and take pains to let the publisher sleep. She works hard and needs her beauty rest. If I slept the rest of my life, I wouldn't get any better looking.
What did I do first? I usually write for an hour. I takes me about that time to draft a piece for Stan Schwartz at Publishers Auxiliary. Or I work on a chapter for my new sales book.
The second hour I climb on my exercise bike and read my daily competitor. I read his publication carefully and thoroughly. I'm looking at the ads his people sold and thinking about how we might be able to help those advertisers in our part of the market. I'm also looking at the photos and articles. What angles did he miss? How can we tell those stories in ways that better relate to our readers' concerns and interests? What can I learn that will improve our performance?
Then I note what I ate for breakfast. Unless I'm at a breakfast meeting, its cereal and milk. Pretty blah, huh? On the weekend, my son and I fix breakfast for the family. That's more elaborate.
I note my weight and blood pressure, what I had for lunch and dinner. Did I take time to workout at the gym? Our physical health is just as important as our mental and emotional health.
I note what I achieved that day and what I plan to achieve tomorrow.
By that time, I am probably so drowsy, that I turn off the lamp and fall asleep, feeling good about the day past and with a sense of excitement about the day ahead.
Sure, I have bad days, too. And the diary helps me figure out why so I can do something about correcting the problem tomorrow.
I have been reading a terrific little book recommended by a friend, Sue Deiter, who publishes her own newspaper on Daniel Island off the South Carolina coast near Charleston. Sue calls it her publishing Bible. The book, Publish Your Own Magazine, Guidebook or Weekly Newspaper, was written by Thomas A. Williams, who has done all three things in his title and will share with you the ideas and concepts that helped him succeed.
In the back of his book, Tom has compiled a library of forms he has used successfully in his publishing business. Several of them are stylized diaries to help you and your sales staff keep accurate records of your performance. Several of these you may already be using.
One he recommends is a one-sheet Advertising Sales Report. It helps you and your people track who they called on, what they sold, the amount paid and their commissions. This is a simple report your sales people turn in at the end of the week to help you figure out the commissions due them. Tom recommends you pay commissions only when the advertisers have paid you.
Another is a Sales Call Report. It lists sales contacts, business names, dates and the results of their calls. This should be a help to them and you. If someone's performance is flagging, you only have to review their call reports with them to detect patterns that are holding them back.
A third is a planner, "This Week's Projected Sales Calls". This helps your people plan their days and weeks. It seems like a lot of paper work. And many sales people hate it. But it is a discipline that will help not only the rookies but your pros who may be suffering sales slumps.
What does this have to do with technology? It's simple. All of these reports can be automated. You can set them up in any word processing program you and your people use.
There is a wide variety of contact management and other software available including spread sheets and stuff that would make an accountant salivate. Some are fancy and expensive.
I recommend you keep it simple. Let the computer work for you, not the other way around.
How to keep score and more
© 2004, The Bellune Company, Inc.
