Agile Selling, A Jill Konrath Manifesto

Jill Konrath is on to something huge. I just completed reading her new book, Agile Selling, available on May 29. It’s a manifesto for learning and selling in today’s globally competitive business eco-system.

My key “Aha!”:  You learn by leveraging your personal productivity habits.

My small business, manufacturing and startup clients are overwhelmed by how much business-related information there is to learn… and learn at warp speed. Have I just described you?

How do you ramp up your learning curve quickly and productively so you can confidently pitch to investors, sell to new customers and create valuable engineered outcomes for current customers?

Jill Konrath has your solution: You need to rapidly absorb information by developing and leveraging an agile mindset.

Agile Selling is one high-value read that made a ton of sense to me. Here’s what I got out of it. Here’s how I communicate what I learned, to my own clients.

1. Our daily habits sabotage our productivity. Give yourself permission to learn. Be successful. (Chapters 10 & 55)
2. Read your email later. It’s a disruptive and distracting brain drain. Eliminate distractions in your work environment. (Chapters 50 & 51)
3. First order of business: create your daily priority list. Tackle your top priorities first. (Chapters 12 & 47)
4. Set deadlines to finish your work. Take breaks every 30, 60 or 90 minutes maximum. You’ll be much more effective at completing the task at hand. (Chapter 26)
5. Avoid multi-tasking. It takes more time to complete less tasks when you multi-task because your brain power and attention are all over the place.  (Chapter 51)
6. Don’t work in a vacuum: borrow a brain. Ask for help from colleagues. Benefit from the experience and insight of others. You won’t learn unless you learn with others at your side. (Chapters 36 & 57)
7. Change your presence and, as a consequence, your presentation. There’s a physicality involved with success. It makes a huge difference to your own self-perception, and to how your customers perceive you as well. (Chapter 58)
8. Set the right goals and be optimistic. Challenge yourself. Turn your problem or failure into a learning experience. (Chapters 8 & 52)

Enjoy reading Agile Selling! I know I did.