As a sales person I’m always waging the classic war against time. Since there are only 24 hours in a day, and I’m only willing to work during my waking hours, I have to be smart about where I allocate that time. This is especially important for those of us who are paid on performance – if where we spend our time doesn’t pay, we don’t get paid.
I know that I spend my time in essentially three different areas:
- Administrative work (expense reports, tracking results, planning, attending meetings – I never let this take more that 15% of my time)
- Maintaining my current clients (where I spend a majority of my time - 60%)
- Prospecting (purposefully going after new business – the rest, 35% or so)
Administrative work I must do or I’d get fired eventually for not doing it.
Client Maintenance I will never forget since those are the people I like (usually) and they pay my bills.
Prospecting… Ah there’s the trick, it’s the most elusive time of all, spending it purposefully focused on getting new business. It’s the first time that goes out the window in lieu of a client need or at the drop of a hat. It’s talking to people that I don’t currently do business with – let’s be honest, I’d much rather talk to my favorite clients over someone whom I don’t know and may tell me to got lost.
If I don’t focus my time on prospecting I’m lost, I’m beholden to where-ever the market takes my current clients – oh and by the way, it’s a fact that current clients are always a dwindling species (they move, they cheat, they get unsatisfied with service, they don’t forget mistakes, etc…).
Take control of your business, take control of your time by guarding your prospecting time with your life… you’re future paychecks certainly depend on it.
Next I’ll talk about how to effectively work with your clients and how to prioritize accounts and how to do business reviews to check in and leverage your best relationships.
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1 comment:
Time management is and continues to be every sales person's albatross. Competing priorities from customers and bosses often squeezes out the most important activity of all...selling! Sales people...DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN. Achieving your goals requires that you control your own time by managing other people's expectations. Ask yourself a single question throughout your day..."would I be doing (insert activity) if I was in business for myself?"...or "if I was paid on new business only?" Asking and answering this question may help you weed some things out of your hectic schedule!
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