Checklists: Part 1
It seems obvious -- have a list of to do’s, check them off one by one, then you’re done! You’ve accomplished your goals and can move onto whatever’s next. Or start over with the same checklist next week, knowing it will help you to (again) be successful. And yet, so many professionals and salespeople I interact with don’t do this. It seems to me that a salesperson who doesn’t use a checklist is (sadly) resigning themselves to ineptitude. They claim to have it all in their head, or know what they’re doing because they’ve done it before. A 2017 article in The Guardian notes that people resist this kind of structure because they worry “it will stymie their creativity or prevent them from being flexible with their working day”. Or perhaps it seems too easy, or too elementary, or that we’ve evolved past the to do list for some reason. I mean, in this high tech age why use something as ancient as a checklist?
I’ll tell ya why: IT WORKS! In fact, many fields require that professionals go through set checklists when completing tasks. Pilots, for instance, can’t take off before working through a set of required checks to leave the ground. Many “studies have shown that people perform better when they have written down what they need to do.” (The Guardian, May 2017) If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. No reason to reinvent the wheel. Work smarter, not harder. (Add a couple more pithy cross-stitch sayings to that and you may finally understand my frustration with people who, for whatever reason, refuse to create and use a checklist. ARRGGGHHH!)
In short, pardon my yelling on my soapbox above, the world has become simply too complex for professionals to not use a checklist. Atul Gawande makes an extremely compelling case for this in his book “The Checklist Manifesto”, claiming that the best and most efficient way to make the most of our collective human knowledge is to create and follow checklists for as many procedures as possible. From pilots in the air to a McDonald’s kitchen to the emergency room to running a grocery store to, yes indeed, the sales profession.
People who use checklists have success. An order of operations is important to efficiency and success in any profession -- if your profession or your office doesn’t have a standard checklist yet, invent one! What a wonderful chance to be creative! If it does, make it work for you. Tailor it to your way of working so you can maximize your time and efficacy at work.
In the next part of this series, I’ll dive deeper into how I personally use the checklist system when it comes to sales, how to make your own checklist AND even share a paired down version of my checklist with you so you can use it to create your own.
“Check” back in a couple of weeks for the next installment. (See what I did there?? :P )
Have you joined our mailing list yet?
No?! Don’t worry, we’ll get you caught up on all the latest posts, advice, and personal tales from Keril by joining our weekly newsletter below.
PLUS, we’ll send you Keril’s FREE streamlined checklist when you sign up!
As a sales professional who’s looking to be successful, make a lot of money and have longevity in your field, it’s imperative that you familiarize yourself with the different types of checklists and find all the ways you can to integrate them into your work life. I see so many sales professionals burn out quickly due to their inability to stay organized.