
(By Pat Bryson) As the calendar turns to January 1, we have a fresh slate upon which we may write. Now is a good time to reassess some of our basic skills as salespeople. Like any professional, how well we execute the basics to a large part determines our success.
Organization is one of the key skills for all salespeople. It determines how we spend our “billable hours,” which in turn determines our paychecks. How organized ARE you? We can’t handle the volume of business necessary to succeed without using our time wisely.
We need methods for dealing with the mountain of paperwork that accompanies success in sales.
Some of us have CRMs to help us organize our accounts. I’ve used a variety of CRMs in my career and there is one thing all have in common: if you don’t put information in, you can’t get it out. Having grown up in sales, I realize that salespeople traditionally hate paperwork. I didn’t like it either – until I figured out that using a CRM to track my activity and the follow-up needed with accounts could make me money! It was more for my benefit than my manager’s.
If you have a CRM USE IT!
Yet, not all of us are that fortunate. What if you don’t have one provided for you by your company? There are other ways to make sure that your office, desk, briefcase, and car are clean and well-managed.
Here’s a checklist:
Set Your Schedule
What device are you using to organize your appointments and activities? Google calendar? Phone? Paper calendar? I hope whatever you use it’s portable and always with you. We need to write down prospects, customer needs analysis meetings, presentation meetings, contract renewals, service calls, copy changes, phone calls, follow-up calls, and internal meetings. It should be a source of how you spend your time and provide a roadmap to working more efficiently.
Get Your Client Files In Order
Do you have an organized system of all contract details, copies of past contracts, orders, client profiles, and copy? I know that we now have virtual files, but do you also maintain paper files? I might sound a bit old-fashioned, but most of the salespeople I deal with do not have access to their virtual files when they are out with clients.
If a client asks about past activity, the salesperson must go back to the station to look it up. You will seem much more prepared if you have the information with you. Plus, have you ever had a salesperson leave and not been able to access their files? The next person who takes over those accounts must reconstruct all the past history.
Cull Your Account List
Have you removed non-viable accounts? I understand that some clients take longer to sell than others, but I regularly see out-of-business accounts still showing up on lists. I also see accounts that have had no activity listed for months. Move them out, trade them, make room for more viable prospects.
Get Your Prospecting System In Place
Do you know how much business you will need to replace because of attrition? Do you know how much NEW business you will need in 2025?
Keep Tools of Your Trade Close
- Pen and pencil (Don’t laugh. I’ve been on calls with salespeople who did not have either of these)
- Order forms and agreements
- Business cards (I know some people are switching to virtual cards. Hard to leave those behind when prospecting!)
- Expense account books and mileage books
- Post-sales analysis forms (to do a postmortem on wins and losses)
- Blank paper
- Thank you cards!!!
Keep Your Mobile Workstation Neat
Your car is a mobile office. What does it say about you? Is it clean? Is it free of trash? Do you have copies of everything you might need in a day’s work with you? That way you don’t have to waste time returning to the office for something you forgot.
The 20% who write 80% of the business are willing to put in the extra hours required to plan their work. Being organized is a necessary ingredient to success. A few minutes a day of planning can save you hours of wasted time.
Welcome 2025! It will be a great year!
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.