Top funnel generation, sales meetings, follow-ups, paperwork, internal meetings, or CRM updates…
It is not that hard to guess a sales rep’s favorite activity in a day.
“I have a pretty good sense of what the Top 10% do, but not 100% sure about the top 1%. Except one factor – one difference between the Top 10% and the Top 1% is the very top are extremely efficient with their time.“
So, how can you maximize your favorite activity a.k.a selling time – despite all the administrative work and distractions?
How can you improve your time management skills to fit into the top 1%?
Here are some simple “hacks” that you can use to maximize your selling time.
1) Know how much of your time you spend on what
Make an audit of your typical day and week.
Prepare an ideal calendar for yourself.
Track your time, and stay focused with the help of productivity tools such as Rescuetime, Focus Booster, and StayFocusd.
2) Leverage the power of zero notifications
Don’t let distractions happen.
Have you ever lived without notifications, especially lately? If not, why don’t you give it a try?
Try disabling all notifications on your phone.
3) Plan your day around your customers
Know whether it works well enough for prospects and customers.
- Know the ideal time to call your prospects in bulk in your morning hours, or afternoon?
- Know yourself. You may want to make follow-up calls early in the day while you’re fresh
- Some people are sharper in the morning, and others function best after the second coffee.
But always remember the rule. “80% of sales come from 20% of clients”. You need to focus on the tasks with the highest ROI.
4) Embrace “Block Logic”
Dedicate slots for different tasks. You will know what to focus on when you check your calendar – use the colors!
- Wake up! Have a morning routine
- CRM Check
- Email Check
- Daily Internal Meeting
- Meeting preps review
- Show time!
- After Meeting Actions
- Follow-up & Nutrition
- Prepare & share proposals, agreements, etc.
- Meeting preparations for the next day
- Personal Development
5) Include time to recap
At the end of every day take the time to recap:
- Your notes are tagged properly and in CRM, your checklists are organized,
- Update CRM, insert your notes,
- Prepare tomorrow’s task list,
- Evaluate what’s working and what’s not. What went well? What didn’t? Where do you need to improve?
6) Prepare your daily task list before you turn off your PC and go to bed
Send your daily tasks to your team – It’s all about accountability.
The more people to whom you promise to do these things, the more likely it is that you will.
7) Leverage ready-to-use resources & automation
It is always a good idea to get the help of sales operations and sales enablement functions – your guide through the path to productivity.
Be aware of the resources & tech stack of your sales organization. Use the knowledgebase to prepare your email templates, nutrition materials, demo assets, etc.
If you don’t have a knowledge base yet, you can create your own. It takes a bit of time at first, but pays off in the long run!