By Dana Phillips.

Have you ever started the summer months without a plan? I have! During my first summer as a leader, I just merrily continued as if everything would be the same. After starting the year with good recruiting and sales, all the momentum stopped when summer began. I felt like I was “pulling teeth” to keep the team going, and I didn’t know what I’d done wrong. Thank goodness my mentor helped me get through that summer and showed me how to develop a system that kept future summers strong.

Here are three things I learned that helped me develop a summertime system.

Create the vision. I learned that summer success (or failure) began with me as the leader. A couple of months before summer began, I needed to stop and think about what I wanted my summer to look like. This meant deciding when I was going to work and when I would play.

Here’s what I asked myself:

  • What will the kids do when I’m working and who will care for them? Think about camps, vacation bible school, summer classes for kids, babysitters, etc.
  • What will we do as a family, i.e., vacations, camping trips, and when will we have visitors?
  • What are my recruiting, promoting, and sales goals for the summer?
  • Have I broken down my goals by month?
  • Have I written my goals down and posted them so the whole family can see them every day?
  • How will we celebrate as a family when we make our business goals?
  • How does it feel when visualizing what I want? Write it all down.

Set up the calendar. Taking time to block out the calendar was the most important thing I did to keep a balanced summer. I color-coded everything and used a family calendar, too. When you take the time to do this, it’s easier to get back on track when you fall off.

Here’s the plan I followed:

  • Schedule Personal time – Write in all personal and family commitments that already have definite dates and times. Think about games, appointments, holidays, camps, vacation bible school, when visitors are coming, vacation dates, and anything else you’ve got planned. Be sure to circle when school starts!
  • Schedule Business time – Write in all business commitments with definite dates and times. Think conference calls, team meetings, National Conference, Regional meetings, etc.
  • Block Business Building time – You won’t have definite dates and times, so block the timeframe in your calendar. You’ll fill in as you schedule the appointment

Ask yourself these questions. What days and times will I:

  • hold parties?
  • Hold recruiting conversations?
  • Hold leadership conversations?
  • Work with Future Leaders?
  • Do my admin work?
  • Make my coaching calls?

Share your plan with your team so they can do it too. Help your leaders create their summer plan and show them how to teach their teams to do the same.

The more leaders and team members working on a plan, the better the summer will be, and you will be having FUN as you build your team. ENJOY!

Want to learn more about Summer Selling?

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