We have talked already about how many professional sales people slow it down during the summer months. If you are a professional seller, you will know right away if I am talking about YOU or about one of your colleagues - you know what I mean, right?

It is rampant in our companies. When the boss is away......... I used to goof off quite a bit. One of my sales managers was a real jerk and when he would take off for a week, I was sure to arrive late, slack off on meetings, make fewer calls, and have a little more fun than usual. After all, I was entitled, wasn't I? Unfortunately this only hurt me because frankly my jerky sales leader (and I use the word "leader" very loosely) was only concerned about himself.

When I got focused on what the priorities were for me and my business building, I never did that again.

Is anyone in your office saying, "Everyone's gone the rest of this week" or "No point working hard till September" or "Might as well take it easy while we can"

Don't make that be you. Just think of Dr. Steve Perry and the kids at Capital Prep.

You may have seen Dr. Perry on CNN's Black in America documentary or on a news channel somewhere. He is an author of the book, Push Has Come to Shove: Getting Our Kids the Education They Deserve - Even if it Means Picking a Fight.  He's standing up for kids getting educated in America, and he's a force to be reckoned with.

Dr. Perry is principal and founder of Capital Prep, a college preparatory school in Hartford, CT.

Oh, and they started the school year TODAY - July 5th.

Yep, today, when public school kids all over North America are heading to the beach, the malls, Disneyland - Dr. Perry is getting kids ready for college. You see, 100% of his graduates GO to college. This is an amazing statistic knowing the apathy that surrounds our educational system. Perry says:

"Every child that graduates from Capital Prep goes on to a 4-year college. Period."

So - politics aside - are YOU starting YOUR selling education back up today? Are you planning while your competitors are thinking about the next cookout or hotel stay?  Have you set bold goals like Dr. Perry has?

What is your plan?

When will you start?

While you're at it, consider a donation to Capitol Prep here.  There is nothing like giving the gift of education.

Lori Richardson writes, speaks, and trains on sales topics for B2B mid-market technology front-line sales teams. Why not sign up for our twice-monthly newsletter,Sales Tips in a Minute or the blog rss feed? We value your time and promise good stuff for you.