Use your time productively
According to a research conducted by Salary.com, the average employee wastes 2.09 hours of his/her day, not including lunches and breaks. Especially the internet is a distractor.
Luckily, many people have specialized in productivity and time management.
Forbes selected a few ideas from these gurus that may help you to increase your productivity.
1. Master your e-mail
If it will take you less than two minutes to delete or reply to an e-mail, do it right away.
Switch off your e-mail notification, so that you will not be disturbed by notifications of an incoming e-mail. Send less e-mail, which in turn will yield less e-mails in your inbox. Keep your e-mails short and concise. Whenever possible: check your e-mail a couple of times a day, on scheduled moments.
2. Think (sharpen your axe)
You don't have to meditate, but taking a lunch break or a quick walk, and at the very least: a quick moment to think what to do, helps you focus and concentrate on the tasks at hand.
3.Use To-Do lists
Write your ToDo's down. This prevents you from waking up in the middle of the night, because you forgot something. Experts suggest keeping several lists, including keeping one with the three most important tasks for today. Delegate whenever you can, and be realistic about how much you can do in a day.
4. Make time for creativity
The goal of time management is to free up time for the more profound or complicated thoughts. Try to schedule time for creative thoughts. Switch off your e-mail or phone during that time.
5. Avoid unnecessary meeting
Be rigorous when it comes to spending your time. Say 'no' to every meeting that isn't necessary, or doesn't require your presence.
6. Don't multi-task
Do one thing at a time and focus on a task at hand for a maximum of one hour and move on to the next.
7. Clean your desk.
Spend the last 10 minutes of your day cleaning your desk. Throw away whatever you don't need anymore. Archive the rest. Suggestion: only touch paper once. Do with it whatever you need to do with it and move on.
Imagine what you can do by adding 10 whole ours (5 days times the above 2.09 hours) to your week. That's a full working week per month!
In commissioned sales, that would mean a 25% increase of your income!
Happy selling everyone!
Best,
Stephan
Monday, May 9, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Persistence Without Stalking
Kelley Robertson on Prospecting
You can't get the sale unless you persist. But how do you pursue your prospect without coming across like a stalker?
Persistence is a vital skill that every salesperson needs. It's been said that most sales are made after eight contacts with a prospect. However, most people tend to give up after just three or four attempts. Let's explore the behind-the-scene dynamics involved in a typical scenario.
Meet Mrs. Executive. Her day is booked solid, scarcely allowing her to catch her breath between each meeting. Some meetings are internal. Others are with clients and customers. A few are with current suppliers or business partners. She has a dozen balls in the air and spends most of her time trying to juggle them all. She has several major goals she wants to accomplish this year but progress is slow because the demands on her time are non-stop.
Fortunately, she has an extremely competent executive assistant. Ms. Gatekeeper knows what projects Mrs. Executive is working on and does what she can to help her boss achieve these goals. She is very proficient at protecting her boss's time and has become adept at warding off unwanted calls, especially from salespeople. Today alone, she has warded off fourteen people and it isn't even noon yet.
Today is your first prospecting call to this company. You believe that your solution will benefit them and you want to meet with Mrs. Executive to demonstrate this. You pick up the telephone and when Ms. Gatekeeper answers, you recite your well-developed opening and capture her interest. After a brief conversation you manage to schedule a telephone meeting with Mrs. Executive a few days from now and are given her direct number.
Fast forward three days. Your call with Mrs. Executive flows beautifully. Your pre-call research paid off and through effective questions, you learned additional information that gives you better insight to present your solution. Mrs. Executive requests an overview of your solution and you promise to email it to her within twenty-four hours. You also agree to discuss it with her next week.
The following week, you call Mrs. Executive at the scheduled time only to end up with her voice mail. You leave a brief message and tell her you will follow up shortly. You call again the next day and receive her voice mail yet again. After some debate you leave another message but as you hang up self-doubt leaves you wondering why Mrs. Executive has not returned your calls even though she displayed interest.
Meanwhile, back at the company, Mrs. Executive has been responding to several unexpected fires and critical issues. Shortly after these problems have been resolved, the CEO dumps two additional projects on her plate and clearly states that these new projects are of highest priority. The other projects go into a hold pattern while she takes care of the CEO's demands. A few days later she is shocked to receive a letter of resignation from her right-hand person, the Director. She now scrambles to put into place systems and processes that will help her manage and deal with this unexpected void. Plus, she needs to begin the recruiting process to fill the gap. She is still interested in your solution but she simply does not have the time or resources to even discuss it right now.
Here's the dilemma. Do you keep calling? Or, do you leave a final message and tell Mrs. Executive to call you when she's ready to talk about your solution? So far, you have made five contacts with her which means you will probably have to make at least three more connections before the sale moves forward.
It is critical to recognize that executives are exceptionally busy. While they may want to discuss your solution, other priorities crop up all the time. If you stop now, there is a good chance that she will forget about you and your particular solution when she is ready to move forward. Your goal is to keep your name in the prospect's mind and develop a "stay-in-touch" campaign. This can include email, voice mail, letters, and cards. Each point of contact should offer something of value and MUST be brief. Respect the decision-maker's time. Recognize that they are balancing multiple projects at any given time. Like you, they can only work on a certain number of them at once.
Many people close sales long after the initial contact simply because they have been persistent and executed a solid strategy and keep-in-touch plan. While the standard number of contacts is eight, this number is not carved in stone. You can rest assured that if you give up after three or four attempts, a competitor who is more persistent will eventually get the business. Are you willing to give business away or are you prepared to persist until you succeed?
Kelley Robertson is a professional speaker and trainer on sales, negotiating, customer service, and employee motivation. Receive a FREE copy of "100 Ways to Increase Your Sales" by subscribing to his free newsletter available at his website. Visit www.KelleyRobertson.com. He is also the author of "The Secrets of Power Selling" and "Stop, Ask & Listen-Proven Sales Techniques to Turn Browsers into Buyers." For information on his programs contact him at 905-633-7750 orKelley@RobertsonTrainingGroup.com.
(article as published on Salesdog.com)
You can't get the sale unless you persist. But how do you pursue your prospect without coming across like a stalker?
Persistence is a vital skill that every salesperson needs. It's been said that most sales are made after eight contacts with a prospect. However, most people tend to give up after just three or four attempts. Let's explore the behind-the-scene dynamics involved in a typical scenario.
Meet Mrs. Executive. Her day is booked solid, scarcely allowing her to catch her breath between each meeting. Some meetings are internal. Others are with clients and customers. A few are with current suppliers or business partners. She has a dozen balls in the air and spends most of her time trying to juggle them all. She has several major goals she wants to accomplish this year but progress is slow because the demands on her time are non-stop.
Fortunately, she has an extremely competent executive assistant. Ms. Gatekeeper knows what projects Mrs. Executive is working on and does what she can to help her boss achieve these goals. She is very proficient at protecting her boss's time and has become adept at warding off unwanted calls, especially from salespeople. Today alone, she has warded off fourteen people and it isn't even noon yet.
Today is your first prospecting call to this company. You believe that your solution will benefit them and you want to meet with Mrs. Executive to demonstrate this. You pick up the telephone and when Ms. Gatekeeper answers, you recite your well-developed opening and capture her interest. After a brief conversation you manage to schedule a telephone meeting with Mrs. Executive a few days from now and are given her direct number.
Fast forward three days. Your call with Mrs. Executive flows beautifully. Your pre-call research paid off and through effective questions, you learned additional information that gives you better insight to present your solution. Mrs. Executive requests an overview of your solution and you promise to email it to her within twenty-four hours. You also agree to discuss it with her next week.
The following week, you call Mrs. Executive at the scheduled time only to end up with her voice mail. You leave a brief message and tell her you will follow up shortly. You call again the next day and receive her voice mail yet again. After some debate you leave another message but as you hang up self-doubt leaves you wondering why Mrs. Executive has not returned your calls even though she displayed interest.
Meanwhile, back at the company, Mrs. Executive has been responding to several unexpected fires and critical issues. Shortly after these problems have been resolved, the CEO dumps two additional projects on her plate and clearly states that these new projects are of highest priority. The other projects go into a hold pattern while she takes care of the CEO's demands. A few days later she is shocked to receive a letter of resignation from her right-hand person, the Director. She now scrambles to put into place systems and processes that will help her manage and deal with this unexpected void. Plus, she needs to begin the recruiting process to fill the gap. She is still interested in your solution but she simply does not have the time or resources to even discuss it right now.
Here's the dilemma. Do you keep calling? Or, do you leave a final message and tell Mrs. Executive to call you when she's ready to talk about your solution? So far, you have made five contacts with her which means you will probably have to make at least three more connections before the sale moves forward.
It is critical to recognize that executives are exceptionally busy. While they may want to discuss your solution, other priorities crop up all the time. If you stop now, there is a good chance that she will forget about you and your particular solution when she is ready to move forward. Your goal is to keep your name in the prospect's mind and develop a "stay-in-touch" campaign. This can include email, voice mail, letters, and cards. Each point of contact should offer something of value and MUST be brief. Respect the decision-maker's time. Recognize that they are balancing multiple projects at any given time. Like you, they can only work on a certain number of them at once.
Many people close sales long after the initial contact simply because they have been persistent and executed a solid strategy and keep-in-touch plan. While the standard number of contacts is eight, this number is not carved in stone. You can rest assured that if you give up after three or four attempts, a competitor who is more persistent will eventually get the business. Are you willing to give business away or are you prepared to persist until you succeed?
Kelley Robertson is a professional speaker and trainer on sales, negotiating, customer service, and employee motivation. Receive a FREE copy of "100 Ways to Increase Your Sales" by subscribing to his free newsletter available at his website. Visit www.KelleyRobertson.com. He is also the author of "The Secrets of Power Selling" and "Stop, Ask & Listen-Proven Sales Techniques to Turn Browsers into Buyers." For information on his programs contact him at 905-633-7750 orKelley@RobertsonTrainingGroup.com.
(article as published on Salesdog.com)
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