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When advertising giant David Ogilvy
made, “We sell, or else” the catchphrase for his agency, it wasn’t a
threat or a warning. It was a simple statement designed to motivate
every person on staff to prioritize responsibilities.
Today’s business world places more
demands on its sales-people than ever. And an explosion of time
management tools and methodologies has merely enabled us to take on
more projects, rather than helping us handle a normal load of
projects more effectively.
In particular, the sales professional is
often tasked with many very important responsibilities that range
from prospecting, selling and servicing existing customers – with a
lot in between.
So big picture priorities (We Sell or
Else), are often overlooked for the priorities at hand. You know,
the deadline-driven tasks that must be accomplished: preparing for
meetings, finalizing proposals, and handling customer service
issues.
So how do you manage deadline-oriented
tasks while maintaining momentum in important activities such as
prospecting, customer service, and general account management?
Start Your Week on Friday
You’ve got to prepare, plan and commit
to a weekly schedule that devotes time to each of your key
responsibilities. Use Friday afternoons to schedule your upcoming
week. This way, when your work week begins on Monday, you can dive
right in, knowing that you’ve given yourself time to accomplish your
week’s important priorities. It’s like planning a road trip. If you
need to be somewhere by a certain time, you know that planning
step-by-step instructions will get you there quickly and
efficiently. Without your map, you may not reach your destination.
Start scheduling your week by filling in
your known appointments and meetings, which are easiest to schedule.
Remember to include travel time.
Prioritize the Big Picture
Since the primary goal of your job as a
sales person is to win business, your next step is to map out time
for new business development. Although prospecting is the easiest
activity to set aside since it’s not “deadline-driven” or connected
to customer service/account management – it is number one in the We
Sell or Else mindset.
So how and when do you plot prospecting
time into your calendar? It’s a fairly easy calculation. Let’s say I
have to bring in $100,000 in new business each month. My average
deal size is $30,000. This means I need to close roughly three new
deals each month. And we know from our client surveys, that we have
to make about 100 new phone calls to new contacts to close one deal.
So here’s the math: I need to make 300 new business phone calls a
month (3 deals x 100 dials per deal), which translates into 15 new
business calls to new contacts a day (300 dials divided by 20
working days). Since each new phone call takes about 4 minutes (this
is an average since some will take more and many will take less),
this means I need to book 1 hour every day in my calendar for new
business development phone calls. [Here’s a tip. Be a rainmaker –
plan extra time for prospecting calls so you exceed your quota!!!]
Once you know how much time you have for
prospecting each week, you need to schedule it in your calendar and
treat that time with the same respect that you would treat a client
meeting. The best times to do prospecting are usually early in the
morning (prior to 8 am), late afternoons (after 5:00 pm) and on
Friday afternoons after 3:00 pm when your prospects are most likely
at their desks, before or after their day’s meetings and
appointments.
It’s All Downhill From Here
You’ve done the uphill battle so far. No
one likes to focus on new business development. But by simply
scheduling it first before everything else into your calendar,
you’ve already taken a huge step in reaching your ultimate goal of
more sales. Now you can relax a little bit and schedule more
enjoyable priorities like customer service.
Even though you may not always know when
you’ll receive a customer service call, but you can try to
anticipate, plan appropriately and minimize interruptions. Do you
have a lot of activity surrounding a particular client this week? A
product being shipped, a program being delivered, a kick-off meeting
being organized for a new initiative? If so, plan extra time around
those activities. Don’t be afraid to allot several different blocks
of time for the same activity. It will be a chance to get ahead of
other priorities if you don’t need to use a certain block. Once
again, you need to schedule your customer service time in your
calendar and treat that time with the same respect that you would
treat a client meeting.
You’re Coasting
With cold-calling and customer service
built in to your calendar, your week’s schedule is taking shape. Now
you simply need to schedule time you want to spend with existing
clients. Remember, this isn’t Customer Service, which you’ve already
planned for. This time allows you to reach out to clients with whom
you don’t have active business with right now. A phone call, an
e-mail, a hand-written note helps you to stay in touch with their
top priorities and initiatives, uncover possible new business
opportunities and simply continue building the relationship.
Reward Yourself!
Congratulations! You’ve taken one of the
most important steps in the We Sell or Else mindset. You’ve broken
down your most important responsibility (Selling!) into manageable
tasks. Of course your week has a lot more activity in it than
prospecting, customer service and account management phone calls,
but when you commit to time you’ve set aside for these important
activities, and you’ll be amazed at how much easier selling seems to
be.
During competitive times, it’s harder
and harder to balance your time between your urgent and important
activities. You can leverage your time ahead so that you spend your
time on the important activities. Planning ahead will allow you to
sell smarter …or else. |
