Time Is Money In Sales
Time Is Money In Sales
Scheduling tasks and meetings is very important working in sales or any profession where every minute of the day counts. More importantly, keeping to a tight schedule is vital. The average sales person has a to-do list something like this:
- Warm calls – Making calls where you have started a relationship.
- Follow-up calls – Returning calls to those who have reached out to you.
- Cold calls – Making fresh prospecting calls .
- Planning – Taking the time to plan new accounts and business for the day week and month.
- Training – Keeping fresh and abreast of the latest trends.
- Documentation – Making notes of contacts and future follow-up.
With a schedule this tight, how do you keep productive and timely with contacts that are fashionably late to conference calls or set meetings? Here are some ideas:
- Conference calls – Set up conference calls via Outlook or some other calendar that gives options for reminders. Set your reminders for 2 days out and then 1 hour before and then the final reminder-10 minutes before conference time.
- Flexibility – When setting up conference times, be flexible on time slots. We are all busy and being accommodating is appreciated by all.
- Be nice – Try to be understanding on late contacts. After all, things happen that we cannot always control.
- Signs – All sales people know when they are being “blown off”. Be aware of the signs. If your prospect is not really ready to set up a meeting with you but you insist-chances are you are not going to be top priority for a conference call or meeting.
There is nothing worse for me than being late or someone not showing up for a scheduled meeting. Take into consideration all factors before disregarding your prospect.
Professional sales people don’t waste time and prospects and contacts respect those who understand this rule: Be punctual, so that sales and long term business relationships will fall into place.
