Day One: Let The Growing Begin

2/10/2011 Improvement #1

When I walked back to my office from Burger King I already had a few ideas about what to improve first.  I thought it would be fitting that since our team at work was really just starting to form, and since I needed to make more money with a baby on the way, that I would focus on improving my duties at work first.  One of the very important pieces of being a successful manager in the office equipment business is to go out and ride on sales calls with the team.  It sounds easier than it is.  Think reports, interviews, vendor meetings, trainings, and paperwork.  All of those things make it seem near impossible to get out of the office.  It is very easy to get in a rut of administrative duties and away from what actually brings in sales.  So, for day one I decided to get out of the office.  The only way to make sure I do that is to set a schedule of ride alongs 2 weeks in advance on my calendar.  I went through my roster of sales reps and sent calendar invites day by day until I had over 2 weeks of ride alongs booked.  I also made sure to tell them I want a minimum of 3 appointments set on the days I ride with them.  I would track the progress at 30 days and 1 year to see if it helped develop my team, and helped make for money for that baby I have on the way.  More on that later.