Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

It’s Only Common Sense: Ready to Make a Million Dollars?

You work hard in sales. You do everything you can to make your numbers, just like you’ve always done. You develop a strong lead generation plan by finding and targeting the right accounts. If you score those accounts, you make your forecast. In other words, you do what you’ve been taught to do. It’s all good, solid work. Nothing extraordinary. But what if you were guaranteed a $1 million bonus if you hit your forecast this year? How would you do things differently?

Let’s say you’re doing everything right, putting your proverbial shoulder to the grindstone. Chances are, you’ll hit your targets. You might pull in a cool $250,000. That’s good, right?

Except, let’s face it, you probably won’t make that much. Some years, you might come close. Hey, $175K is a damn good salary. Even $130K or $140K will be good enough for you. Sure, you agreed to the number that your boss suggested, or even demanded, but you both know that you aren’t going to make your forecast. But it’s good enough. As long as you come close, you still have your job. Heck, it’s only once in a blue moon that someone actually makes their forecast, never mind exceeds it.

This is just some kind of game you and your boss play very year. Deep down, bosses know what numbers they can count on.  

Now let me ask you a few questions: Did you really do everything you possibly could to hit your numbers? Did you work as hard as you could? I mean, like 14-hours-a-day hard. Can you say at the end of the day, week, month, or year that you left everything on the field?

How creative were you? Did you try anything new last year? Did you spend hours at night coming up with ideas to really change the game? Did you try something that few others will attempt? When you look in the mirror, can you honestly say that you did everything you could?

Here’s my point: Realistically speaking, most of us in sales do the same thing month after month, year after year. We do things the way we learned in our first years in sales. The only difference is how much we work and, maybe, how lucky we are. Other than that, it’s the same process and methodology that we’ve used forever.

So, are you absolutely sure you are doing everything to be as successful as possible? Now, what if you were guaranteed a $1 million bonus if you made your forecast this year—the number that you and your boss agreed to? Hit your forecast at the end of the year and you walk away with a cool million. Consider what it would mean to you and your family, and the security it would bring. You’d feel like, well, a million bucks.

You have the opportunity to make $1 million this year. It’s entirely up to you. Find a new and creative plan to get the right customers. What will you do? What actions will you take? How hard will you work to earn that kind of money?

Once you figure it out, write it down where you can see it—on your computer or put it in your pocket. Keep it there as a reminder and read it every single day. Go do it.

It’s only common sense.

Dan Beaulieu is president of D.B. Management Group.