Training Tips

Not Enough Hours in the Day?

How you’re wasting time and what to do about it

 

According to Bill McCormick’s salesresources.com article “Sales Time Wasters,” there are two types of time wasting obstacles: those that come from the outside and those that are self-generated.

Self-generated time wasters include:

1. Calling the wrong people. “If you call on an account with little upside or growth opportunity, you’ve wasted a sales call that you will never get back,” McCormick writes.

2. Failing to schedule the day. It’s understandable that not all stops and calls will be scheduled, but it is important also to have an idea of what the day will hold.

3. Failing to plan well. Sales professionals should know what the purpose of each call is, who they need to contact and what materials they need to bring along or have handy.

Disorganization, failure to focus, failure to use technology correctly and procrastination will also waste time.

Outside time wasters include:

1. E-mails. Sales professionals should learn to quickly respond to and manage e-mails.

2. Internal meetings. “A poorly run meeting wastes everyone’s time, and is time that otherwise could be spent by a seller in sales planning and sales calls,” McCormick says.

3. Paperwork. It is important to gather information, but excessive reporting requirements can make things difficult.

“Successful sales people plan their sales calls, schedule their time strategically and make time to follow up by building it into their day/week/month,” explains McCormick.