Time Management

By Louis Jordan

Honest time management can be the difference between a good and great sales person. It eliminates the peaks and valleys experienced by some sales people and allows them to become consistent producers.

To manage your time effectively first start by detailing the activities required by your position into three groups.

Group one - activities that create commission/sales:

Foot canvassing
Telemarketing
Attending appointments
Speaking with existing customers to add business
Asking existing customers for referrals

Group two - activities that need to be done, but do not immediately create commission/sales:

Account reviews
Collating leads
Networking
Some customer service activity
Returning phone calls and email (urgent, account impacting)
Preparing Proposals
Training

Group three - activities that can be delegated to someone else:

Researching issues
Billing issues
Returning phone calls and email (non-account impacting)
Day-to-day account maintenance

Hunters and Farmers will have slightly different lists, but both of them need to spend sales time on sales activities. For the Hunter it will be generating new business, for the Farmer increasing penetration rates or revenue streams within existing customers.

Prospecting needs to be the first item listed by any sales person for group one. Whether true cold-calling or contacting existing accounts it is the life-blood of a sales team. It is also the first thing that is sacrificed to return a phone call, deal with an issue or write a proposal. Why, if is so important, do we tend to sacrifice prospecting before anything else? Because we do not like doing it and it is the hardest part of most sales positions.

It is very easy to get home after honestly working non-stop for eight hours without having done anything to generate a sale or increase commission. Do not get into this habit - it is a great way to get managed out of any sales position.

You need print out a blank calendar from outlook for either a week or a month and start carving out time for the sales generating activities. When you have finished your first draft re-do it and add 20% more time to prospecting. Stick the calendar in your cube, on your laptop or in your car and force yourself to adhere to the schedule you have developed. Sales is easy if you have a robust funnel, getting the funnel to become robust is the hardest aspect of selling anything - so spend more time on this than on any other activity. It really is that simple.

Most of you will, if you are successful, earn more money than the customers you speak to each day. You must proceed as if your time is more important than anyone else's. Non-commission/sales generating activities must be relegated to those times during the day when you have less chance of find a sale - before 8:30am, between 11:30 and 1:00pm and after 6:00pm.

Those of you who are having a great month, or have just closed a big deal need to put this in place immediately to ensure you do not spend the next few weeks floating around without adding to your funnel. The number one reason why sales people have valleys and peaks in their performance is a failure to focus on prospecting and sales generating activities when they are doing well. Whether your sales cycle is ten days or two years the issue is the same. Forsaking prospecting during periods of prosperity results in tough times down the road. At some point if you have been putting nothing into your funnel, nothing will come out of it.

You need to show extreme integrity and self-control by adhering to your new schedule all the time, not just when you feel desperate.

If you have used other techniques to help you manage your time please email them to me at coach@integrity-sales-leadership.com and we will publish your ideas.