In today's blog, I wanted to share with you the concept of the cookbook. It's really a tool for accountability and behavior. I want you to know a little bit more about what a cookbook is and what some of the elements are, so you have a better framework on how to measure your regular behavior, and so you feel more confident in the activities you're taking.
The Cookbook concept comes from David Sandler.
Basically, it's like the recipe, the recipe for success.
If you want to cook a Chicago style deep dish pizza, right here on the table you can do many things. You can do affirmations and You can have goals. You can visualize, and You can do vision board about delicious pizza, but at some point you’ve got to get the cookbook out, and you’ve got to get the recipe, and you’ve got to create the pizza!
If the goal in selling is to sell a million dollars, a thousand, or whatever your number is, what is the cookbook?
What’s the recipe that leads to that result?
In selling, the sales we bring in are a lagging indicator. The sales I bring in today are most likely something I was working on initially months ago, maybe a year ago.
If I'm measuring sales as my primarily focus, I'm missing the fact that the leading indicators are what I can control today.
Here's a few categories, just a thought starter for you. Everyone's cookbook's a bit different, but these are some standards ones.
The number of dials or attempts. How many times did I pick up the phone and make a cold call? (And by the way, cold calling is not dead. No matter what you believe, or you might read that people want to you believe, it's just not the case. People like to read that stuff though because of confirmation bias that says that's the reason you shouldn't make cold calls. But, cold calls still work. We have clients every single week reporting back appointments they're setting through cold calling. In fact, I think it's a bit better than it used to be because not as many people are making them.).
- How many conversations I'm having in a week.
- How many appointments am I setting in a week.
- How many referrals am I asking for.
- How many LinkedIn InMails am I sending out in a prospecting perspective.
You could have other ones too:
- Strategic alliance meetings.
- Trade shows.
- Chamber of Commerce after-hours.
It all depends on what matters in your world, but the point is, you can control this. You can clearly control every day how many dials you have. That's 100% in your control.
What you can't control as much are the sales that come in because there's a lot of factors that are at play. So, if you’re in a place, in a mindset that says, okay, what can I control everyday? you want to control your destiny. Cookbook is really the cornerstone to that, from a Sandler perspective.
- With your world, think of your end results.
- Where do you want to be?
- What cookbook, what recipe do you need to get to your goals for this year?
What kinds of leading indicators can you look at on a daily and a weekly basis that will ultimately lead to your success?
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