Ep. 185 Deadlines are Your Lifelines

Deadlines increase momentum, accountability, and productivity. Joe Pici will flip any negative impressions you may have had about  setting deadlines and provides  a plan for utilizing them to reach your full potential.

Voice over:
Get ready for an unfair advantage over your competition. This is the sales edge podcast, where globally recognized sales expert and trainer Joe Pici helps you sharpen your skills for booking more appointments and closing more deals. And now here’s your host Joe Pici.
Joe Pici (JP):
Well, hey team welcome back to the sales edge. This is podcast number 185 and we’re excited. So many great things are happening with respect helping our clients recapture lost revenue. And so here at the sales edge podcast we are sponsored by Pici and Pici, which is a speaking, coaching, training, consulting firm. Really focusing on helping our clients recapture lost revenue and get ahead of this thing and really get in front of the target markets. Sell their products and services. Also the SMV sell more virtually platform, which is an online portal membership-based. We have e-courses. Also, Thursday night I’m on there live, Joe Pici, and I do a coaching once a month. They do a full training. The rest of the time is coaching, interaction, masterminding. And so the two sponsors are always focused on helping your clients get ahead do a better job at what they do. Now as the host of The sales edged podcast, I want you to be aware, you are more than welcome to call me 407-947-2590. Let’s have a cup of joe. Open to your suggestions your disagreements. We’re we have very thick skin here at the sales Edge, and we’re open to constructive criticism. Also if you have any suggestions you want to just send me an e-mail, Joe@piciandpici.com. So as we’re moving ahead. We’re constantly getting input. Thank you for your input on topics that you know that we have mastery over. That we utilize in our own business and with our clients. And one thing keeps coming up, the importance of deadlines. Now, this should be common sense and and just just a whole idea of you know, finishing a job on time. You you know a date or time by which something must be done. A time limit that must be never be passed. So let’s let’s ask you a couple questions.
Number One: Have you ever waited on a project to be done? You are paying somebody to bring in a project. You had a team and different components of the team were had to bring in certain aspects of the project, only for it not to be done.
What did that cause you to think at that time? But let’s look inside ourselves. Let’s never point the finger, because there’s always three pointing back at us. Have we ever committed to a deadline and not gotten it done? You know your reputation as a company or an individual is pretty much the only thing you got to go on. It’s your bread and butter. Okay, it’s who you are and your reputation is generally based on two things in business. Okay. It’s based on the quality of your work and how will you meet deadlines.
And I can tell you in the 21st century that has gotten a little loose. I’ve seen so many companies tend to always be moving the deadline back to accommodate themselves. You know today, we’re going to focus on meeting deadlines. In the area of your company and you as an individual.
We want you, we know that you do great work, but there has to be absolute, a focus on bringing those projects on time. You know, when I’m working with companies that provide a service, provide a product. I always say make sure you’re bringing that project in on time, on scope, on budget. Now scope is the accuracy of the project budgets. Speaks for itself, but the first one is on time. Let’s talk about a few things that deadlines and timelines create.
Number One: It’s going to create a sense of urgency. You know, one of the most powerful functions of having deadlines is giving you a sense of urgency. Knowing I got to get this project done by this date. Okay, and and that tends to put a stake in the ground and create that internal urgency. When there’s no urgency, you know what happens, I know what happens. People tend to put off, they procrastinate. I had a friend who once said, I heard him speaking on stage and he said, put off putting off. And went wow, that’s intense, but it was so good. We’ve got to somewhere along the line, we got to put the stake in the ground and say bringing in projects on time is non-negotiable. So you know if I didn’t set our deadlines to get things done here at Pici and Pici, if Dawn and I didn’t sit down and say by this date. I remember when Dawn walked into my office in March. And she said “I think it’d be a good time for us to launch our membership platform for virtual coaching and training and speaking having content for people all over the world that they could access anytime” and this was in March. And I said, okay. Do you have a deadline by which you want this project done? And she said I want to launch the back end of the platform where people can sign up as members and get video content, get you every Thursday night, get downloads the first half of the project I want done August 1st. We drove that stake in the ground. It was important. There was a sense of urgency. A sense of urgency for goal is so important. It gives you a clear idea of when you have to complete each step. So when you have that urgency, you’re going to have measuring objectives along the way. And each of those objectives have a deadline, have an urgency to them. Also deadlines are going to allow you to plan and do your schedule, and schedule things out accordingly. If you don’t have a proper time frame and goals, there’s no way you can plan your action. You know, whenever we set something in place, a goal and objective, you know a new new training program, whatever it be. The first thing we’re thinking about is when do we want to launch this? Because then and only then, can we do our plan of action. So a goal without a deadline just never going to get done.
So this is why having no deadline will never work. Your deadline determines your strategy and your plan. You know, if you let’s say for example, you wanted to start a business. Some of you out there are in the starting of a business, or a new division of your business, or whatever. A second business. If you don’t put some benchmarks, if you don’t put some timelines. If you say well I want this to be a million dollar business and someday. And you and I know someday is not on the calendar. I’ve always said my whole life there’s Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, but someday doesn’t exist.
If you say I want this to be a million-dollar company in three years, then all of your actions, all of your strategies change. A goal without a deadline can never work. If you want to achieve your goals, you have got to include deadlines, but you have to be serious about them.
Number Three: Deadlines are going to keep you accountable and your team. This is easy to understand. Your deadlines keep you accountable. When you don’t know when you want to accomplish something, you never move to them. And let me say something about accountability.
It’s one of the things I see missing in the 21st century and businesses. Is that there’s no there’s no consequences for not getting the job done. And I’m not talking firing. I’m just saying everything with a timeline or a deadline should have a bonus if you do and a consequence if you don’t. You know, I know I grew up with a dad who was a builder and and he would build custon homes. And there was time lines that had to be met and the house had to be done by a certain date or there was financial, there is a financial penalty. So, you know every project, that you have, that we have must have a deadline, and must have accountability standards within it.
Number Four: Deadlines will tend to motivate you. You know, besides keeping you accountable the deadline motivates you to work harder. You know, if you know that you need to get something done by a certain date and it’s not getting done, you’re going to rev it up. You’re going to kick it in gear. You’re going to be motivated to get the job done. And so having those timelines and deadlines in front of you, you know, having deadlines for your goals are important. If you are a hundred percent committed to your goals, you will stick to your plan and do whatever it takes to achieve them. In other words, you will follow the timelines you have planned and take action. The other thing..
Number Five: is deadlines. We’re going to help you prioritize everything. You’ve whenever you’re putting a deadline in place, you have got to prioritize that actions and activities. I call it my priority management system. What is it that we want? Why do we want it? When do we want it? The the absolute when we want that is going to dictate everything. The plan of action. I’ve got some tips for you on this whole thing.
Number One: We’ve got to care about the deadlines really. You know, you can’t be lacks. You can’t be well if we get it done? These deadlines have got to be top priority. And so you have to say one of my non-negotiable for bringing in a project is, it will always be on time.
Number Two: You want to keep a list of projects and deadlines. So you want to have your list, write everything down. these projects have to be done by this date and check them off as you get them done. I like to use a simple list, just to check mark. You may have a tool, you may have an online, you may use an excel sheet, you may use a software. I need to be visual. Next thing is you..
Number Three: Is communicate a clear deadline, if you’re involving other people. Including your client. We must make sure everyone is on the page together on our deadline. You know clarity is the key. Whenever things are confusing and when that deadline, there’s no stake in the ground. Then everybody has their own perception of time line. And yet when you’re putting together this project, the client, the team must be everyone must be on the same page and your needs to be measuring sticks along the way.
Number Four: Is worked with a cushion. I see people that put a deadline and don’t they don’t put in any potential cushion should something go wrong. And things can go wrong. You know, I’ve seen people have a certain deadline and the internet goes down and it’s not their fault. It’s their carrier. You know, I’ve seen people that have they are the hub, the general contractor so to speak. And they’re waiting for subcontractors to get the job done. And they’re absolutely. There’s no cushion, their backing everything up right to, this has to happen perfectly. Make sure we give ourselves a cushion.
Number Five: Have a very clear outcome. You and your client must be on the same page. Don’t skip this step. Okay, when I’m sitting with a client, I’m wanting to know, when do you want this project done? When do you want these results in place? And there’s nothing better than that to hit the project with the right results in the right time, to earn trust. Then break down the project..
Number Six: Break it down. This is really good advice for any project when you look at it and put it in bite-size pieces. You know, don’t try to tackle this project in its entirety. Use small building blocks, building steps. And estimate the time for each step. And so it’s a lot less intimidating and not everybody on your team has a big picture vision. Then..
Number Seven: Focus on the first step. Now that you’ve broken a project down to small steps. What’s the first step? What’s the first thing we have to do? Don’t worry about the rest of them right now. I’m rereading for the fourth time, the one thing. What’s the next one thing I have to get done? And check it off your list.
Number Eight: Block out the adequate time to get the job done. When you’re working on a step be sure you’ve blocked off the right amount of time in your schedule to get it done. If you’re not blocking off the adequate time, you’re not going to get those projects done on time. And then one small step is late. Then the next small step is late and all of a sudden the accumulated late times is going to put the project way over.
Have a start and completion time for every single aspect of this project. So when we break down our projects we say by this date, by this time, this piece of the puzzle is going to be done. By this date, that we’re doing it right now. Okay, we’re going to be making an announcement in the next week about the completion of a project that we’re going to be hitting right on time.
And so, but we if we would have looked at it in a big parcel, it might not have gotten done. We literally checkboxed all of the small projects that are leading to the end result.
Number Ten: Communicate each step. Every time you complete a step communicate it with your client. Communicate it with your internal team. Make sure you are commune, everybody is in the loop as to getting this project done. And don’t overcommit, that’s
Number Eleven: This is one of the challenges I see with people, they tend to over commit and they missed a deadline. Not because they’re lazy, not because they’re not working, but they over committed to a project that could not be done in that amount of time.
Number Twelve: Let’s learn from our mistakes. You know, if you bust a deadline, if you don’t make it take a few minutes and analyze where went wrong so that you can learn from it avoid that happening in the future.
Number Thirteen: Put your clock away. In other words, I know so many people and they say well I’m done. I’m going to be done working at five o’clock. No matter what folks, when it comes to projects, projects are more important than your personal time. If you have to stay up late, if you have to work around the clock, you are building a long-term reputation. If you miss a deadline, make sure you get right to your client immediately. Take responsibility. You aren’t, you take the blame and renegotiate and reset for the second deadline. And make sure you hit that one.
So a couple things that happen when you always hit the mark. You’re going to be viewed as a dependable person. People will you will demonstrate dependability, people will view you dependable. They what means, they’re going to trust you, trust your word because, your actions dictated it. They’re going to hire you again. They’re going to give you more work. Another thing that happens when you are deadlines conscious. You’re going to reduce overages and cost. You’re going to hit the budget every time and so that’s very important. Remember, if you’re doing a project, you shouldn’t pass on to your client that you went over. It’s your responsibility to bring it in on time. So you’re going to save yourself and your client money. You’re going to exude professionalism. People have bring projects in on time are viewed as very respectable. Which is going to enhance their respect for you. At the end of the day, the right thing to do is to bring projects in on time. The benefits are being rehired. Okay, people trusting you, wanting to do business with you, which grows your company. So by you bringing your projects in on time for your clients, they’re going to trust you more and give you more work.
So this has been Joe Pici of the sales edge. Speaking about timelines and deadlines. There will be more this down the road. Take out your phone and put one word “salesedge” into your message text box. And it to 5 5 6 7 8 hit that to the Pici and Pici link, take you to a splash page. Five free videos. Recapture lost revenue through virtual selling. Also links to this podcast. If this podcast is a value to you, can you like it, share it, right a positive comment on it? Also, there’s information on the SMV portal and free download. So thank you so much. This has been Joe Pici of the sales edge, and we certain certainly thank you for your loyalty.

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Thanks for listening. New episodes will air each Tuesday and Thursday. So make sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and give us a five star review. The Sales Edge is sponsored by Pici and Pici Incorporated. A firm which provides training, consulting, and keynote presentations. Empowering corporations and individuals to attract and retain quality clients for higher revenues and growth. Make more money and sales. sSpeak with Joe in person by calling 407 947 2590. Or visit www.piciandpici.com