Do It Now

Do it now. Do anything the first time it comes across your plate. Write it down the first time you think of it. Handle things immediately. In simple terms…Do it now!

Example: You open a letter, read it, think about it a bit but do not handle the letter for some reason. You file it for later. When you pick it up next you must repeat many of the actions which ALL take time. Seeing it, picking it up, opening it, reading it, thinking about it, coming up with a solution, are all things you did the first time. You would not have had to repeat them if it had been completed the first time. Yes, they are very short actions, some requiring only a few seconds, but they are wasted seconds. You could forget to handle it, it could become lost, the situation may have worsened or possibly it is too late.

I am writing this in a small African nation while listening to the rain fall. The reason I have the time to write this is because I violated the above rule and have a whole day to kill because I didn’t follow my own advice. Yesterday I stopped by the office of a gentleman who was doing business with me. He was out sick but I believed I could reach him the next day through his secretary. But the next day turned out to be a holiday and the secretary was not at work. I should have asked for the man’s phone number right when I thought about it. The secretary was standing right in front of me but I thought “I will talk to him tomorrow.” I should have gotten the number right then! Always do it the moment you think of it, the first time it comes to you, the first moment you become aware of it!

I will give you another example. I was at a gun show and a guy walked by my table wearing a rather valuable watch. I asked him if he wanted to sell it. He said he would and we agreed on a price. He said that he was at a table just down from mine. I already had a buyer for the watch at a substantial profit. It was a guaranteed deal. I watched him walk down to his table and sit. The show was quite busy so I made a deadly decision…. “I’ll see him in a few hours and finish the deal.” Two hours later I went to the table and he was gone. His friends said that an emergency came up and he had to leave. Guess what? They had met him just that day and did not know how to contact him. I have never seen the guy again and I lost out because I didn’t “DO IT NOW!”

Write It Down

I am forever writing notes to myself. I have used many systems, large paper pads on my desk (some as large as 1.5 x 2 ft.), small note pads, sheets taped to the walls, pocket pads, etc. The rule here is that anything is 1000% better than nothing. If you think of something that you must do, write it down. If you are in the middle of a conversation and a thought hits, write it down. Never think “I will do it later.” This also comes under the “do it now” rule. Write it down! Now! As you complete things on the list you can cross them off. But only when the item is completely done.

What Constitutes A “Done?”

A thing is not done until it is completed. When it is completed it can be called “a done” thing. Sometimes I just call it “a done.” We sometimes call a done “a completed cycle of action.” Or a “completed cycle” for short. Either way, a completed cycle or a done are both the same thing: something that is totally finished in the proper manner.

People love to think something is done because it looks done, because someone said it was done or it is nearly done. None of those are an actual DONE. The way that I thoroughly learned this was managing my salespeople. I used to hear all sorts of things about how “a sale was done.” If a deposit was left, the salesperson thought they had a sale. If it was paid for in full, they thought they had a sale. If it was delivered, they thought they had a sale. But it often happens in sales (as in life) that things get in the way of a “completed cycle of action.”

To show you how completely you should think through an item before you consider it “done,” this is what I came up with to define a completed sale.

1. It is fully paid for.
2. It is in the hands of the customer and accepted as satisfactory.
3. The invoice has been fully completed.
4. The computer is fully updated with all important data.
5. All related transactions are handled completely, such as trade-in paperwork done properly, trade-in accepted by inventory, etc. and all data is correct.
6. All the above is done on the day that the item is delivered and accepted.

Just because the item was paid for did not mean it was “sold.” It could still be sitting in the store waiting to be picked up. Just because it was delivered does not mean that it will not be returned. After it is accepted by the customer you can feel fairly solid, but finally all the administration (paperwork) must be finished before you can feel that it is DONE.

Do It Right the First Time

Many things are not done because they were done wrong and end up needing to be redone or corrected. My father always said, “Do it right the first time.” This is very good advice which saves you the extra work of doing it again later.

Do it in such a way that you only have to do it once.

Prevent problems in the future from ever happening by doing right the first time.

If the info about what you are going to do may be needed later by someone else, then do it ALL and write it down where appropriate.

Example: You measure a diamond we just bought off the street. If you measure it completely and write down all the specs on the stone paper then you, or someone else in inventory, do not have to do it again later.

Example: You are comparing the costs of two types of advertising that we are going to do in the future. Keep the notes so you don’t have to do the same comparison again later from scratch.

Example: You are evaluating a ring for the weights of the different stones set in it. Write them all down and keep them with the ring so whoever enters it in stock does not have to do it again.

The main point here is if you are going to do something, do it right and fully the first time and you won’t have to repeat the work again later.

Predict the Future

I sometimes call this “thinking in the future.” Many very highly paid people are so paid because they THINK IN THE FUTURE. They predict and handle problems before they can actually become a problem.

Any time you are doing something that may have relevance in the future save the data. If you see something that could cause a problem in the future, handle it now.

A very simple example of this: You see a cup of coffee on the edge of a table where people are walking by. Simply move it away from the edge before someone knocks it off. Or you see a tag on a ring that is nearly torn off. Get it replaced now so that someone else doesn’t have to figure out what the item stock number is after the tag does fall off.

Another example of thinking in the future is as simple as keeping a sales rep’s name and address in the computer system. There was a time when we didn’t do this. I instituted a policy of doing it and now every new person in Inventory doesn’t have to call and ask “who is our rep?” They just look it up in the computer.

Be Responsible for Yourself and Your Company

Be “pro-active.” This means to be personally responsible. Be responsible for yourself. Be responsible for the company. If you take responsibility for the company then the company will do all it can for you. That is how it works around here and this is how it works in most aspects of life. Take actions that you can see are needed. Prevent problems from happening. Think ahead and think “outside the box.”

Summary

• Do it now.
• Do it right.
• Do it completely and save any data that you, or someone else, will need later.
• Think in the future
• Be responsible.

Thank you!