This ability area outlines the crucial elements of managing personal time, as well as priorities, to achieve goals and objectives. For salespeople to be effective, they must maintain focus and productivity. They should understand the difference between an “income-generating” activity and non income-generating activity. By learning to prioritize and focus on what matters, and setting the right priorities for the day, sales people become more effective at the sales process.
Within the context of selling, the salesperson must identify independent accounts or accounts that require more servicing. They must identify the right activities that lead to the most sales growth. Identifying key patterns of growth in the higher profit accounts is also important. Identifying
key enablers to support the sales process is also important. Identifying the right activities, for the right accounts, at the right time, requires systematic process of assessing sales opportunities and resources, determining sales objectives, defining sales strategies, and establishing guidelines for knowing which activities are "important" or not.
All salespeople are 'busy,' but some confuse 'activity' with 'achievement'. We all have a limited time to complete our tasks - and as we have said, time is the most valuable resource. Make sure you understand the crucial elements of managing personal time to achieve ones goals and objectives. Great sales professionals understand that they must define the right tasks for the day or month, prioritize them, schedule them and execute. As salespeople in every market face a combination of recurring demands, information overload, increased workloads, and have family and/or community responsibilities, they must balance these priorities with their own personal expectations of what they want from their job, career or family. Busy salespeople need to prioritize.
Time allocation and management is an important aspect of setting priorities.
Time is a salesperson's most valuable asset. Lost hours mean lost sales and lower earnings. Poor territory management leads to missed opportunities and meager results. To survive in today's fiercely competitive marketplace, you need the best productivity training you can get. However, sometimes procrastination, forgetfulness, lack of priorities, bad planning and incorrect goals, often create a scenario where a sales professional is pressured and subject to high levels of stress. This could lead to frustration, anger, low self-esteem, unhappiness and even resentment of other sales professionals. To develop an effective schedule, salespeople have to learn “who’s doing what” in their marketing, sales, and service
functions and how those activities mesh, or fail to mesh within their sales territory.
Individuals should also be organized within their system of setting priorities and goals. By maintaining an organized approach, they are more likely to find information and maintain sales efficiency. For example, this could include knowing when to meet with many members of a team or simply conduct a teleconference. To help manage their priorities, sales professionals should also create an action plan in alignment with their personal and corporate plans. In following a process for control, the objectives must be placed within the context of a larger plan in terms of strategy, tactics, and activities. By understanding the impact of managing your schedule on quota attainment, you can monitor your success in managing yourself and your time.
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Focus Area: Priority Management