10 Ways to Tame the Beast in Sales
Have you thought about where your time goes? Does it feel like you are racing around and feeling less productive? Do you suffer from never getting caught up? Being successful in sales means getting busier. The irony is the busier you get, the less you commit. The hunt for new business is put on hold while you handle the business of new accounts. The rollercoaster effect of too much, not enough business happens in many sales professions. Becoming overwhelmed with the day to day can cause you to lose sight of the bigger goal; consistent sales.
These hacks will increase your productivity and get you off the rollercoaster of sales.
1. Look in the Past
2.Social Sacrifice
3.Multi-Verse
4.Income Producing Activities
5.Clutter Bugs
6.Schedule it
7.App-itizing
8.Control Outcomes
9. Work Smart, not Hard
10.Learn to Earn
Look to the Past
Try looking at the past to define the future! Keep a time journal and review where you spend time. This can give you hours a day and possibly get you an extra day a week! Look at the activities that produced the results that made you busy! Try one of these time journal apps or do it the old fashion way and keep it in a notebook! https://zapier.com/blog/best-journaling-apps/
Getting Social
How often do you check social media? Do you have notifications on? How many times a day does your phone, buzz, chirp, or ding? Every time you check your feed, respond to a tweet or answer an instant message you are losing time. According to the research done at the University of California, Irvine,https://www.ics.uci.edu/~gmark/chi08-mark.pdf, it takes at least 23 minutes to get focused after going down the rabbit hole of social media. Schedule times to check your social media. Reward yourself when completing tasks on your priority list. Try short timed breaks in your day. Here a few resources for taking control of the social media addiction.https://www.inc.com/jeremy-goldman/6-apps-to-stop-your-smartphone-addiction.html
Multi-verse
Do you multi-task? According to the research study conducted at the University of Michigan http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct01/multitask.aspx. When we multitask, we are less productive. Have you ever tried listening to someone while reading, writing or experiencing other distractions? Try it once, then repeat what the speaker said to you. You will miss about eighty percent of the information. How do I know this? Confession, I was busted once, okay a few times!
Income Producing Activities
Some people say they have a time management problem, but is it? Maybe it is a priority management problem. Look at the things you focus your time and effort on, are they income-producing activities? Do administrative tasks come before new sales? Make a list of A, B, and C priorities. Finish one job before moving on to the next one. If you want to increase sales, place income-producing activities on the A-list and save the non-income producing activities for B and C lists.
Clutter Bugs
Are there things living under your desk? Do you think you have it all together with disorganized genius? Putting things in order clears the way for focused intellect. Try enforcing the six-week rule. If you have not touched it in six weeks throw it out. If you don’t want to toss it, keep it in a place outside of your work area. You probably won’t need it in the next six weeks, months or even years. Clean out the desk, car, and office to clear the way for creativity and focus. If you can’t bear to part with those 500 sticky notes, put them in a folder, or better yet scan them into a file called sticky notes. There are many online tools for note taking to help you recover from the sticky note habit. Here are a few.
https://zapier.com/blog/best-note-taking-apps/
Schedule It
If it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t happen. Schedule days, weeks and months. Make a standing date for prospecting, follow-up, and check-ins with existing accounts. As the famous sales author and speaker, Brian Tracey says, swallow the frog first. Make the unpleasant tasks the first thing you do. This will ensure you have the drive, focus, and energy to complete the work. Putting the tough stuff first will make the rest of your day a breeze to finish! Have a big job? Break it into bite size pieces, give yourself enough space in time. Set a deadline to complete it and reward yourself when you succeed!
App-itize It
I have an app for that! Use apps to organize your email, eliminate spam, measure progress and manage time. Use apps to make learning fun and rewarding. There are plenty of gaming apps that make being productive easy. Many have rewards along the way for a job well done! Here are a few.
https://www.actitime.com/productivity-tools/productivity-games
Control what you Can
Control what you can and forget the rest. Instead of settings goals with a result, try setting goals based on the actions it will take to achieve this goal. For instance, the goal; I will call on 60 new prospects today. How many new sales will result from this activity? We can’t control this outcome, but we do know this activity will gain more sales.
Work Smart, not Hard
How do you start your day? Do you get up five minutes before leaving for work, or do you have a morning ritual to start the day? Setting yourself up for success begins with planning. Having an idea of what tomorrow brings not only makes you more productive it gives you peace of mind. Try getting up one hour earlier and use the time to get yourself ready to start your day both mentally and physically.
Learn to Earn
Keep a laser focus by immersing yourself daily in sales education. Youtube, Linkedin learning, podcast, sales blogs, and books should be a part of daily living. Dedicate 15 minutes a day in the morning to strengthen your talent, gather business intelligence, stay positive, or review the sales basics. In life, it pays to learn continuously. Be hungry to consume content that will improve your skills and get you closer to your goals.
Those willing to do what others won’t, get what others don’t.
Be Great and Prosper-Nan
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