"The number one need in today's busy world is time management," says Dave Kahle, president of DaCo Corporation, a sales training and sales development company. "We're all overwhelmed. We've all got too much to do and not enough time to do it. And because it's such a problem, getting serious about it is the best way to improve your performance." Here are some of Kahle's suggestions for managing time.
Leave the details to someone else. There's a natural tendency to get caught up with busy work and details when there's no need. For example, walking a major order through your internal system to make sure all the Is are dotted and Ts are crossed isn't necessary. There's someone else to do those things. Don't fill up your day with tasks that really should be done by someone else.
Get out of your comfort zone. "Salespeople can get comfortable with a certain group of customers and, as a result, may let that comfort affect their decision making about the most effective use of their time," says Kahle. "If you haven't changed or challenged some habit or routine in the past few years, chances are you are not as effective as you could be."
Get rid of the gunk. Gunk accumulates until it clogs up the flow. What is gunk? It's the silent behaviors and habits we add to our routines that decrease our flow of positive energy. An example is having morning coffee and reading the paper before you start your day. Is this something you must do? What would happen if you picked up the phone and answered your calls while having coffee?
Prioritize your customers based on greatest potential. Assess your clients' potential on a regular basis and regularly work on the accounts with the greatest potential. That means you might have to say no to accounts with low potential. Everyone has enough or too much to do so try to find the best use of your time.
"The issue is working smarter to allow yourself to be proactive rather than reactive," says Kahle. "It's common sense, but it's so easy to get into routines of rushing and being reactive that we allow the whims of our customers to dictate our day." Responding and reacting makes you feel important, but at the end of the day you really haven't accomplished anything.
Think about it before you do it. "It's the nature of salespeople to be active," says Kahle. "It can be a problem because sometimes we act and react without asking ourselves: Is this the best way to do it?"
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