Basic Business Discipline - The 5 Ps

If you’re in business, be it an employee or employer… you’re always going to be building relationships and selling yourself or your company. That’s the way business is done - we exchange our time, our service (effort), our products (property) for something of value.

You probably like reading those fancy quotes… like this one:

There’s a huge gap between reading and doing. And we’re going to close that gap today - because if you want to be successful, you need to take action, in Tony Robbins style (loud booming voice!)… TAKE MASSIVE ACTION!

But you need the discipline to become that overnight success, and if you’re in the investment field or any field that requires you to sell something - then you need to follow these 5 Ps:

PREPARE

Before you even start your day, prepare yourself… do your homework, plan and prepare for the next steps. I’ll repeat this because it’s worth repeating - luck favours the prepared mind. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

PROSPECT

Everyday, after you wake up, you should be finding new people to talk to. I like to say that investment banking is a social discipline. Relationships cannot be scaled unfortunately - this is why they’re so valuable. Find new people to talk to and add them to your database, your CRM, your rolodex, your address book.

PLAY

Maria Edgeworth was right when she said...

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a mere toy

Who is Maria Edgeworth, I don’t know… but that saying is parroted by everyone. And so if it's become true, then stop working and start playing. Yes, PLAY… make your work fun again, stop thinking of it as a boring repetitive task, bring a twist to it.

Don’t just sit down for coffee, share a video with the person you meet that’s amazing. Start the conversation and just have fun. Be yourself. Relaxed people get more done than uptight ones… that’s not just the stress talking to you, it’s common sense.

PRESENT

Besides, being “present” - you actually have to do a presentation and show your wares. You’re going to show them how your products or services can help them. If you want to be recognized, you have to put in the time to showcase yourself. Some people you’re around may know what you’re capable of but not everyone does.

Here’s the thing, immediately after you make a quick presentation - ask lots of questions  and then listen (shut up, and just listen). It’s what I call the 70/30 rule… they should be talking 70% of the time, vs you.

PING

Ok, so you have their attention, they want to work with you. What do you do… you go meet the next person. NO. NO. NO.

You follow up, I’ve written about this before, so I’ll not go beyond repeating this: The fortune is in the follow up. It just depresses me to see how many opportunities are lost, because people don’t follow up. Really, read this post. It’s time for you to get that paperwork done, so people can sign up with you and let the ink dry.

What next?

Well, that's simple... you rinse and repeat the above 5 step process. Do this is day-in and day-out and you'll become that overnight success everyone talks about!