2020 Wrapped Up: 3 Failures, 3 Wins, 10 Lessons

This article has been inspired by my own personal reflection on 2020. We're coming to the end of an unforgettable year after all, so what have been my failures, wins and lessons for this year?

Always being one for self-reflection and personal awareness, I'm a firm believer of holding yourself accountable for anything that occurs within your control. If something has failed, and I have taken (or not taken) actions to impact the outcome, I'm accountable. If something has gone well off the back of something I have (or haven't) done, I'm accountable. And keeping track of those lessons from both the good and the not-so-good outcomes is most important. Making the same mistake twice is not going to get the results I strive for.

How to Keep Track?

There's one very simple way of keeping track as the year goes on. A tool I swear by and use religiously, daily.

JOURNALLING

Journalling isn't for everyone. I get that. But by building in this 10 minute routine into my morning has not only made my days more productive, but I have more control over my time, my goals, and importantly, my home work/life balance.

What do I include?

1. My top 3 behavioural goals for the day
2. My top 2 personal goals for the day
3. My attitude or belief statement for the day
4. One thing I am grateful for
5. A track of conversations I am having with Key Decision Makers - with a little note of (Q) for qualified, or (D) for disqualified - I aim for at least 5/day
6. Meetings booked (first meetings, second meetings...)
7. Score myself out of 10 for both my role, and personally. This is where the self reflection part comes in
8. Fears, failures & f***-ups
9. Lessons

TOP TIP: KEEP IT FUN AND COLOURFUL

It may seem like a lot, but it fits on one side of my A5 notebook and really doesn't take long.

So, what have been my biggest FAILURES?

I often hear statements from salespeople like this, "I've failed because I lost a huge deal". Or "I've failed because I didn't have enough sales leads".

I get it. I understand why sales professionals may think like this and yes, there are elements of failure behind losing a huge deal. There are also conversations happening DAILY like this:

Sales Person: The wrong leads are coming in from marketing. I know they won't be good quality when they come in

Marketing: We're generating Marketing Qualified Leads but the sales team aren't prioritising them or closing them

The misalignment is not uncommon. We work with businesses like that a lot. But it's important to recognise that focusing on the outcome will not help you improve. Focus on the BEHAVIOURS you did that caused the failure. For example, the lost deal may be because you failed to identify a key pain point or enough influencers in the sales cycle.

So where did I fail in 2020?

• Being too short sighted - yep. That's right. I learnt the hard way and had conversations where I sounded like a stereotypical, desperate salesperson. I'll summarise how I learnt to change that towards the end of this article.
• Getting complacent - I mean, it's natural to begin to think there are some calls that you can do without preparation, but realistically, you're never going to get the same results as a call that's planned for.
• Failing to allow time for personal development and mindfulness - this won't be to everyone's taste, but personal development is something I'm passionate about and I plan it into my days. Mindfulness is another key part of my routine, where I clear my head space completely to allow myself time to unwind. Failing to do this has resulted in, on occasion, either feeling overwhelmed, over-thinking outcomes and also, negative thinking.

What have been my biggest wins for 2020?

1. New Role

It goes without saying that landing my new role at Linked Inbound half way through this year was a huge win for me. Not only is working with Sam and the team an absolute joy, but the plans over the coming years are HUGE and I just can't wait to be a part of it.

2. Built my Professional and Personal Brand

This one is a little harder to measure statistically, but if I compare both my professional and personal brand to how I was 12 months ago, it is definitely in a stronger place. Not only has this meant I get regular inbound opportunities on platforms such as LinkedIn, but I also am able to help those in my network in other areas. For example, I am a part of multiple networking groups and accountability groups where I can add value and people come to me for support and advice.

3. Regular Reading

Although there have been short bursts in the year where I have not focused so much on personal development, I have still managed to read over 12 business books this year, along with 3 fiction books.

My current read is actually one recommended to me, called The Great War for Civilisation The Conquest of the Middle East - by Robert Fisk. I'll be honest... I highly recommend this book, but it isn't going to be a quick or easy read. I'm taking this one in short doses!

My top 10 lessons for 2020:

Focus on the long term.

Don't focus on this months target, this quarters target, or even next quarters target. Prospect as if you are finding clients and customers who are still going to be working with you 3-5 years from now

Slow down to speed up.

Nothing is really so important that a conclusion needs to be confirmed right away. I use this even when I am building my lists for prospecting in Sales Navigator. I could easily build a list of 100 people in 20 minutes, but they may not be suitable and will not help me achieve my results. Instead, I spend longer, and build a higher quality list, but in return, I get better results. I wrote an article on how I use Sales Navigator for prospecting which you can read here.

Preparation is most important.

This includes preparing for EVERYTHING.

Calls - prepare for a positive prospect, a negative prospect and a neutral prospect. Prepare for outcomes. Prepare how to handle certain questions which may come up. Prepare what you want the next steps to look like. REHEARSE. Out loud. With someone else.

The day ahead - why wouldn't you? You have your 3 behavioural goals for the day. Make sure you have time planned in to make those happen.

The unexpected - what could stop you from achieving those goals today or this week? Prepare for that and hold yourself accountable to the outcome.

Be human.

I say this with my sales hat on. Most sales professionals have received training, coaching, or some sort of technique that helps them through a sales process. Reality is, there is no point having a script or process if the person on the receiving end can sense it. It's awkward and uncomfortable.

Holding myself accountable - to my personal goals.

It's easy to give up or reschedule things you have planned personally right? Because sometimes, there's something that just needs to get done which is more important. A key thing for me now is making sure if I don't achieve those personal goals each day, I hold myself accountable and find the time to make up for it.

Impostor syndrome & how to squash it.

'Internal experience of believing that you are not as competent as others perceive you to be'

This for me is where my mindfulness and self awareness is key. Accountability also comes into play, along with keeping a journal. If you have goals you're achieving, you're holding yourself accountable, and you're making time to clear your headspace at the end of each day - you will see a huge lift in how you feel. Also onto my next point:

Celebrate my successes.

I've never been one to shout about successes. It's the introvert in me. But really it's highly important in both business life and personal life. If you don't celebrate even the little wins, your mindset will reflect that.

• Have you stuck to your morning routine all week? Great, have a lie-in on Saturday
• Have you closed a huge deal? Congratulastions! Open a bottle of wine or spend an hour doing something you love that evening (I always opt for going out for a meal)
• Have you completed your weekly goals a day early? Fantastic! Finish a little early on the Friday or get ahead for Monday.

Givers gain

Something I have really taken on board since joining Sam's team. The more you give, the more you see naturally in return. I've really put a focus on giving this year in different ways across work life and home life.

'You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with'

This is a quote by Jim Rohn. I heard it right near the beginning of this year and have had it in the back of my mind ever since. Luckily, I've been able to put myself in a postition where I am surrounded by an incredible support network, with people who are all better than me in different areas, and that I can learn from.

Business isn't personal.

It's okay to hear 'no'. It's okay to give a 'no'. It's not personal if the focus is never you. And only you have control of that. With this in mind, it makes it super easy to ask for feedback continuously from those you speak with, and there's always a learning opportunity.

WRAPPING IT UP

2020 has been an unforgettable year. One that none of us could have predicted, expected, or planned for. There have been highs and lows, new opportunities, some opportunities have come to an end, but most importantly, we have been able to learn and grow as a result of everything that's been thrown our way.

I don't expect anyone to share their full summary of 2020 like I have, but if you're open to, it would be good to know your number one failure, your number one win, and number one lesson of this year in the comments below. You may just inspire or help one other person!

About the Author, Lianne Saxton

Lianne is an ambitious salesperson, keen to help like-minded Sales & Marketing Leaders and CEO's who are looking at strategically building their sales pipeline for the long term. She loves to work with driven, forward thinking and focused leaders, positioning their sales teams as the go-to experts in their industry, helping them implement 8 social selling strategies that actually work.

Looking after the Corporate Partnerships of the fastest growing LinkedIn Consultancy in the UK, Lianne and the team at Linked Inbound, help clients to generate massive results, transforming the sales and marketing eco-system, with huge impact on pipeline. Since Jan 2019, we have helped companies to generate in excess of ￡95.2m in new business from the LinkedIn platform. 

Contact Lianne via her LinkedIn Profile. Email her on [email protected] or book a discovery call with Lianne by going here .