Said the Spider Learn sales from our eight-legged friend's greatest architectural accomplishment.

Do you ever find yourself overwhelmed by the way your businesskeeps you spinning from one sale to the next? Do you ever wish fora simple, visual method of keeping track of all those strands?Perhaps you should take a lesson from the spider.

Spiders are brilliant engineers. After they eat bugs that getcaught in their webs, they return to the center of the web tosurvey the damage. If the web needs repairs, they quicklyreconstruct.

Now consider this: Your business is like the spider's web,and you can use that image to keep yourself focused and organized.Draw a web on a white board. The center represents your corebusiness, and each strand that emanates from that center representsa different client, project or area of your business. Each of thosestrands has other strands attached to it labeled with the names ofpeople involved in a project, or with the steps that have to betaken to complete the project.

Benefits Of The Spider Web Concept

The spider web can help you:

• Allocate at a glance. When you look at your web firstthing every day, you can easily see which strands are in good shapeand which ones need some attention. Then you can determine whatpercentage of time to allocate to each strand during the day. Forexample, you might decide to allocate 15 percent of your day toplanning and strategizing a new sales campaign, 30 percent toworking with current clients, and 55 percent out in the field,training your new sales reps. Or you might realize you've beenneglecting one of your strands and that your day would be spentmost productively by concentrating on that one project.
• Make connections. Looking at the web gives you ideas onhow different strands might connect with each other. Seeing thingsvisually connected helps make the mental connections you mightotherwise miss. So you might find that the web gives you the ideaof connecting client A with client B, making your bond with bothclients even stronger.
• Think on the road. The spider web is such a strongvisual focus, it stays in your mind even when it's out ofsight. So when you're away from your office, it's easy tokeep this visual tool in front of you all the time. It'samazing how many new ideas will come to you by keeping a picture ofthe web in your mind when you're on the go.
• Look to the future. Several of the strands in the webshould represent goals and challenges in areas you have yet toexplore. Some could represent current customers with whom you wantto increase sales, and others could stand for new customers you arepursuing. Keeping new goals in front of you is a great, effectiveway of stimulating your thinking and focusing your energy.They're reminders that business is ever-changing, and if wedon't keep new goals in mind, we'll have nothing to replaceworn out and damaged strands.

You can keep yourself both focused and challenged every day ifyou start off each morning by concentrating on the center of theweb, then surveying the strands to see where the web is standingstrong and where it needs work. Check your to-do list against theweb and make sure all the strands are getting the attention theydeserve and there are no gaping holes. Every so often, add newstrands and erase the ones that no longer apply.

You'll find that the web concept is a valuable tool forkeeping yourself focused on your current sales goals, keeping youreye on potential clients and customers, and keeping your businessfrom spinning out of control.