So you had a great month! Congratulations! Enjoy the fruits of your labours and the accolades. But never lose sight of how you got there. The fruit you are harvesting today is really the result of seeds you planted months ago.

It’s taken months, if not years, for you to build the skills, expertise, reputation and relationships you have in your market. The combination of continuous learning, multiple valid business contacts, and tools like our SoundADvice have been the seeds that grew your success.

It’s a common mistake for sales people, and for advertisers, to measure results based upon the fruit they collect this week or this month. But marketing and selling are a process, not an event.

New seeds grow new trees which eventually grow new fruit. The best marketers measure the seeds they plant, and when they do collect the fruit, they trace the origin of that fruit to those seeds.

Your commission or bonus structure is probably focused on your harvest. You need to find ways to motivate and reward yourself for planting the seeds that are responsible for your harvest.

At the end of each day, counting the seeds you planted rather than the fruits you’ve harvested, is the only way to ensure continuous bountiful harvests in your future.

What seeds are you planting this week?