The Suitcase Theory

I remember being a road warrior. Well, maybe a minor combatant. I'd be up late the night before, packing for a two or three day trip. (Including, in more recent years, what-had-to-go-where to facilitate the security checks…and now, pat downs!)

Being relatively compact, and going for short trips, I was able to carry a computer bag and a carry-on suitcase or duffle. For three days, I could make it easily.

Today, I am thinking about my next trip, two weeks from now. I will be gone for about 8 days and nights. Yikes! That image will cause some serious packing woes; I know that even before I start! You can only get so much stuff in…one… OMGosh! That sounds a little like the story I hear from  my clients these days!

"I don't have time to…!" " I'd have done that but…came up!" " It's an issue of bandwidth!" I'd be very surprised, no matter how organized you are, if you haven't uttered those words in response to accepting  a new undertaking, when viewed as a time commitment!

Regarding time, my favorite reality: Time can't be managed! There are 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour and 60 seconds in a minute; you can't do anything about it! THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS TIME MANAGEMENT! The only thing you can manage is what you put in the time you have to allocate! That parallels packing your suitcase!

Here are the questions to help manage either:

The Suitcase Theory	Priority Management
What must I take?	What must I do?
How big is my suitcase?	How much time do I have?
How much will it hold?	How long will each task take?
Will it all fit in the space?	Can I get them all done?
What must I have?	What has to be done?
What can I leave behind?	What can I pass-off or save?
What if I don't have it?	What if I don't do it?

The management of these issues is really quite simple! Learn by answering these questions. Is there anything that can't be removed? Would it be better to pass-it-off or save it, rather than do it poorly? Have you ever learned to delegate? Do you have the right supporting cast?

Do you know how to pack and travel?

Sales Manager by DEFAULT?

Took a while yesterday to speak, by phone, to an old friend/client, whom I hadn't spoken with for a long time. A successful business owner, she'd fallen back into a habit, I thought she'd broken. (Guess she'd gotten too far away from this support group.)

To make a long story, short, if I can, about 2 years ago we'd put a sales manager in place in her company, to manager her 8 sales people (the outside number for 1 full-time sales manager!) He'd done very well, subscribed to the methodologies we'd put in place, righted the team with a couple of good hires and used the systems and processes we put in place, with the Sales Force Toolbox, to help him! As they should have, numbers went up!

Six months ago, out of the blue, he left for greener pastures and my client, much to my dismay (she was too busy!) left the position unfilled and, once again, took on the role of sales manager! Too busy to hire; not too busy to take on the full-time job of managing 8 sales people!

Ever find yourself in this position? Sales Manager by Default! Default is a common word in the computer world…it's where you go when what you're attempting to do isn't going as you'd like it to go, and out of desperation you go back to the original settings.

If you're there right now…bumping-up against the choice:

1. I'm the president/owner and chief bottle washer…what do I know about hiring some expensive person to manage these sales people…so I'll just do it myself!
2. I'll just take one of my sales people…Joe's the most successful; he can bring the others along!

STOP! You're about to make a terrible mistake! Allocate time, find some outside help if you need to, and hire a real sales manager!