Articles

Scott M. Primiano
Polestar Performance Programs, Inc.

Time does indeed fly when you are having fun. This March will mark the third consecutive year that we will be conducting the MAIA sponsored “Great Producers Program” and it seems like just yesterday that we were designing the program for the first class. Though each program has been unique with respect to our participants, their backgrounds, and their tenure in the industry; we have been able to identify some common traits exhibited by our most successful Great Producers. These traits mirror those that we have identified in the many hundreds of other participants that graduate from our other programs conducted around the country each year.

You might be surprised by the fact that these behaviors are not complex, process-driven, mechanical, or gimmick-driven strategies but are, instead, elementary habits that work well without regard to product, price, market conditions, education, style, finesse, hype, or height. You should also know that although no single producer displays all of these traits all of the time, we can say that they do have an uncanny ability to develop most of them and consistently portray them over time.

So, here they are. Steeped in common sense rather than complication, these 50 traits represent a timeless composite of every Great Producer.

How they view their goals

Success in life, both professionally and personally, is determined by our ability to establish crystallized objectives, develop a plan to achieve those objectives, and discipline ourselves to executing the plan. All too often, life’s preoccupations and distractions derail our plans with an earsplitting crash, and we fall victim to the noise. Other’s priorities overwhelm our own, a need for instant gratification erodes the promise of patience and cumulative results; urgency and emergency replace systematic assessment and provocative thought. As we ply our way through the wreckage, it is easy to settle into a belief that it was never meant to be. Great Producers view their goals a bit differently:

Great Producers are on a mission – they decide what they can have, believe that they should have it, and then go and get it. No excuses.

Great Producers have goals that far exceed other’s expectations – assigned objectives are understated.

Great Producers are never content or comfortable with today’s progress.

Great Producers review their goals and measure their progress daily.

Great Producers visualize achieving their goals and are guided toward them by an internal compass.

Great Producers evaluate their performance and the quality of their activity regularly.

Great Producers celebrate victories.

Great Producers are disciplined daily – even on Friday afternoon.

Great Producers run marathons, not sprints.

10.

Great Producers are emotionally attached to their objectives. They may give in but they never give up.

How They Work

Time is our most valuable possession. It is the measure of our existence on the face of this earth, and the decisions that we make about how to allocate our time ultimately determine the quality and usefulness of our stay. Given that we begin each day with the same 24 hours and that it elapses at exactly the same rate for all of us, what we do with each moment is the single greatest and most controllable variable in our formula for success. Great Producers worship their time and protect it well. Priorities are established based upon the task’s or project’s ability to move them in the direction of the accomplishment of their objectives – rather than ease, expediency, preference, or pleasure. Great Producers see the light . . . usually the first light.

11.

Great Producers start early, every day, 7 AM or earlier.

12.

Great Producers sell during selling hours. Administration /housekeeping hours are before 8 AM and after 5 PM.

13.

Great Producers spend a minimum of 50% of their time outside of the office.

14.

Great Producers are selling at least 70% of the time.

15.

Great Producers remember to have fun and they plan for it.

16.

Great Producers return their calls quickly. Not every call, but every high-payoff call, usually from a cell phone.

17.

Great Producers look for efficiencies. They are consumed with finding a better way, not an easier way.

18.

Great Producers are always learning, and they learn by doing.

19.

Great Producers are stable and consistent.

20.

Great Producers do their homework . . . at home.

What They Work On

In the beginning, there was the cold call. It was intrusive, inefficient, and discomforting for peddler and prospect alike. Most producers have justifiably abandoned this legacy prospecting tool in favor of a more palatable one – after all, 100,000,000 people on the “do not call” list can’t be wrong. That said, I continue to find that a “cold-call mentality” still dominates in a majority of alternative marketing and prospecting systems. The basic premise is that selling is a numbers game. Cast a wide net (through mass-mailing, advertising, volume quoting, and extensive bidding), reel it in, sort it out and work frantically to find a keeper. Although this method generates an impressive amount of work, it does so by exacting a huge opportunity cost on efficiency and client quality while creating a culture of urgency and desperation. This game of numbers simply does not and will not provide enough quality return for the time and attention invested.

Great Producers are consistently more selective. Maintaining what Stephen Covey refers to as “an abundance mentality”, Great Producers understand that opportunity is limitless and timeless. After all, everybody needs what we have to offer and they all have to buy it every year! Targeting opportunity appears to be the Great Producer’s favorite sport, one that is played strategically and deliberately, without concern for a quota or a calendar. They identify their niche markets, learn and stay educated about the unique needs of their markets, and become specialists in serving those markets. Great Producers work the market with a scalpel, not a machete.

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