Sales Truths : Great Ideas Always Seem to Come After Midnight

BY DAVID RICHARDSON

Published in the February 2014 issue.

WHY IT IS TRUE: It’s 3 a.m., you are sound asleep, and suddenly you are hit with a brilliant idea. The more you roll around in your mind, the better it seems to get. You commit yourself to remembering it, and immediately store the masterpiece in your memory. Awakening the next morning you not only can’t remember what the idea was, you can’t even recall that you had one in the first place!

PLAN OF ACTION: Place a pen and a pad of paper on the nightstand. Turn on the light, and jot down a few notes. Don’t want to turn on the light? Grab a voice recorder or your phone and briefly record your idea. Don’t want to risk awakening your partner? Duck under the covers and speak softly. Uh-oh … your partner wakes up. Not to worry, remind them of your brilliance, continue to record your idea, and fall back into never-never land. — DAVE RICHARDSON