(By Pat Bryson) I usually write this type of newsletter in January, as we begin the year, but during the last few weeks I’ve heard from the salespeople I train that they just “don’t have enough time.” Or, even worse, they are “busy” but not “productive”. We’ve been working on time management.
Time management is really self-management. It’s all about knowing what we should do, then having the discipline to do it, day after day. How we spend our time determines our success. It also determines our paychecks. Perhaps it’s time to take another look at our daily activities.
I suggest you begin your journey to higher paychecks by keeping a time log of how you spend your time for a week. Be honest. Break it down into 15-minute increments. Note the timewasters. Once you have established your baseline for how you are currently spending your time, you will know what needs to change to become more productive.
Exactly what is your time worth? Many professions, such as accountants and lawyers, charge by the hour. They plan their days to maximize their billable hours. Although we as salespeople do not charge by the hour, we definitely should know what each hour of our time is worth. To calculate, take your earnings for 2022. If you work 40 hours per week, 50 weeks of the year (allow for how many weeks of vacation you have…if you are working in Europe, Canada, or Australia, you will have more than two weeks of vacation), you will have around 2000 hours of billable time. Divide your earnings by your number of hours worked. What is each hour of your day worth? Are you surprised?
We must not waste our hours!
Sales success comes to those who understand and execute the sales process well. Every day, it is important to put new clients into your sales pipeline. The activities of prospecting, setting appointments for pain-finding calls, presenting solutions and service work done after the sale are all vital to your success as a salesperson. Each day, you should spend some of your “billable hours” in each of the above categories. This allows you to grow your business and ensures a steady stream of new clients coming on board to replace old clients lost. Here’s how a typical workday should look:
Prospecting calls on the phone or in person
- New Prospect
- New Prospect
- New Prospect
- New Prospect
- New Prospect
These calls have one purpose: to set an appointment. You should do at least 5 of these per day if you are an established salesperson. If you are new, the number might be as high as 15 or 20. New salespeople are just beginning to establish a list of clients. It takes a lot of contacts to get started!
Customer Needs Analysis Calls
- CNA
- CNA
- CNA
The objective of these calls is to find out if the client is a suspect or a true prospect and to uncover needs. We need to know his objectives and what reaching those objectives will mean to his business and him personally. We leave with enough information to write a customized campaign, a budget, and a commitment that the prospect feels we can be of help, and he wants to see what a campaign might look like.
Presentation Calls
- Present Solutions
- Present Solutions
The objective of these calls is to present solutions to your client’s needs and pains. Here’s where you ask for the money! Hopefully, these are long-term campaigns!
Service Work
- Service
- Service
- Service
You should be following up with clients, checking their results, returning phone calls and emails and writing thank-you notes.
Paperwork…
- Paperwork
- Paperwork
- Paperwork
- Paperwork
Now is the time to write orders, do copy, and plan your next day. This should be done before 9 AM and after 4 PM.
For those small emergencies when a client demands to see you right now, you can allow part of one day each week for such activities. Most of the time, when a client calls and needs to see you immediately, making an appointment within a few days will work just as well. That way, you, not your clients, control your calendar.
It is important, before you leave each night, to have the next day planned and ready to go. You have a plan for increasing your income. The difference between the mediocre performer and the top performer is often the way they choose to spend their time. Spend your “billable hours” productively!
Happy Selling!
Pat Bryson is the CEO of Bryson Broadcasting International, a consulting firm that works with sales managers and salespeople to raise revenue. She is the author of two books, “A Road Map to Success in High-Dollar Broadcast Sales” and “Successful Broadcast Sales: Thriving in Change” available on her website. Read Pat’s Radio Ink archives here.
