About us

Company Philosophy

Sales Activity Management is more than just our name... it is the belief that we all have the potential to achieve great things and activity management doesn't leave success to chance. It is a concept that inspires, builds confidence, empowers and helps people become their best.

We are a field-driven company that believes every sales professional deserves the best tools and leadership to help them succeed and grow. Our goal is to make success available to everyone.

Company History

Why was the company started?

The company was founded by a veteran insurance agent committed to success who was both determined to get the block of business he managed growing again and frustrated at the high turnover of salespeople in his organization. He set out to find the answers and to make a difference.

Knowing that "success leaves clues", he looked back at the times he had the most sales success in the past and found these common threads: it was when he was very focused and kept close track of how many clients and prospects he was calling on daily. After realizing this, he decided that he needed to get back to the basics and in control of his workday, and became a time management junkie, attending many of the popular time management courses available and listening to so many audiotapes that his car was practically a university on wheels. He studied about many of the most successful sales leaders and organizations in the country and became convinced that you can't manage time — at least not literally — you can only manage activities. "As a matter of fact," he thought, "activities are the only thing you really can control."

The founder, Mickey Straub, started to incorporate many of the new ideas he learned with his old strategies, and sure enough, he went on to have record sales years and win exotic sales trips annually. But a couple of quotes that he heard while at a sales conference in Banff Springs, Canada, kept ringing in his ear. They were: "Business is like biology, when you stop growing, you start dying," by an unknown author and "A mind stretched to a new idea, can never return to its original dimension," by Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Feeling like he outgrew his current position, he tried desperately to get promoted within the organization, but that would not come to be. So, he started searching other business ventures, and even negotiated on a pool hall, which was a childhood passion in which he used to compete semi-professionally. Finally, he asked himself how he most wanted to spend his work time and what legacy he wanted to leave, and being a career pool player didn't get on the list. He wondered, "What do I do well, and what can other people benefit from?" Feeling like he was certainly not the "best" salesperson in the world, he wondered why he had experienced so much success. Besides being highly honest and motivated, he concluded it was because he managed his activities well. "What kind of activities?" he asked. "Sales Activities," he answered and hence, the name of the company.

One turning point in Mickey's life that prompted him to start the company came after a conversation he had with his boss, in which he asked him for advice to help get himself back on track. His boss replied, "Just do it or I'll get someone else!" He realized at that moment that his boss didn't have the answers, and instead relied upon (and perhaps hid behind) an authoritarian approach to motivate. What he was looking for was guidance and ideas on better ways he could run his business. What he got was a threat to "do the job or else."

Unfortunately, it was the standard reaction given to salespeople that he had heard many times before. It wasn't that his managers were bad guys, they just didn't have the answers and were unable to train, mentor and provide a step-by-step roadmap for success that was transferable to the next new salesperson. Instead, they managed the way they were managed and what worked for them, focusing strictly on results, and leaving the rest to chance. "It was survival of the fittest," he thought and, "no wonder why turnover was so high in the company." From that moment on, he realized that if he could help provide better tools and coaching for new salespeople and managers, he could make a great impact on the sales profession, and the lives and careers of all those that follow. If only he could find the answers, perhaps he could help future salespeople shorten the learning curve, as well as avoid many of the pitfalls and frustrations he experienced during his early years.

Mickey started looking for answers, studying the great minds of the past and present, searching for a better roadmap for success that would help future salespeople while simultaneously moonlighting and building the company after hours. It was during those times that he first realized the benefits of activity management, especially after learning about several of the most successful companies in the country that credit their culture of activity management as being a major cause of their success. And another quote kept re-surfacing. "We reap what we sow." He knew the concept of sowing and reaping had been around for centuries. It was Biblically based and couldn't be denied, especially when it came to sales. He knew he was on to something that was so simple, yet revolutionary, and became determined to bring it to fruition.

During one of the motivational seminars Mickey attended, he heard that there are only two primary motivators of all human beings, that of pain and pleasure. More specifically, it was the desire to avoid pain or gain pleasure. He had plenty of both that motivated him to start the company. One positive motivator was that if he could help people internalize the benefits of sowing and reaping when it came to sales, perhaps that concept would benefit them in their personal lives as well. The rest, as they say, is history. The core products his company provides have become more advanced over the years, but the reasons why they are in business have not changed. Take a moment and visit the many parts of our website and review our products and services to see if we can be of service in helping you achieve your goals. Take note of our phenomenal client list and read the wonderful testimonials. Our goal is your success.