How do you eliminate some of your business worries?

You can spend less time in conferences, trying to solve business problems. Let everyone who wishes to present a problem in the conference first prepare and submit a memorandum answering these four questions:

1. What is the problem?
2. What is the cause of the problem?
3. What are all possible solutions to the problem?
4. What solutions do you suggest?

When you have already answered those four questions, the conference will take about one third of the time formerly required, because it proceeds along an orderly, logical path to a reasoned conclusion. Much less time is used in worrying and talking about what is wrong; and a lot more action is obtained toward making those things right.
See how Frank Bettger, a top insurance man in America, applied this method:
When he first started selling insurance, He was filled with a boundless enthusiasm and love for His work. Then something happened. He became so discouraged that He despised His work and thought of giving it up. Then He got the idea of sitting down and trying to get at the root of His worries.

1. He asked himself, "what is the problem?" The problem was that he was not getting enough returns for the staggering amount of calls he was making. He would do well at selling prospect, until the moment came for closing a sale. The customer will ask him to come again. It was the time he wasted on these follow-up calls that was causing him depression.
2. He asked himself, "what are the possible solutions?" To get the answer, he had to study the facts. He got out his record book for the last twelve months and studied the figures. Then he discovered that seventy per cent of his sales were closed on the very first interview and only seven per cent on the third, fourth, fifth, etc. So he realized  he was wasting half of his working day on something that only brings him seven per cent of sales.
3. He asked himself, "what is the answer?" The answer was obvious. He had to cut out all visits beyond the second interview, and spend the extra time building up new prospects. The results were unbelievable. Frank Bettger became one of the best-known life-insurance salesman in the country.