While having an assertive, hardworking, and goal-oriented personality is an essential part of success in sales, personal organization can be just as important. The most effective sales professionals identify the rhythm that works best for them early in their career.
For example, one person might gravitate towards delegating certain tasks to certain days of the week while another might try to stick to a set daily schedule as closely as possible. The only caveat for those in sales who prefer strict daily scheduling is to leave some flexibility in the schedule for unexpected distractions.
Work with a Mentor and Outsource Routine Tasks
Most salespeople have someone in the industry whom they really admire. If that person is open to a mentorship relationship, it would be a great opportunity for the younger worker to learn sales strategies from the best that the industry has to offer. Another benefit of business mentoring relationships is the mentor will point out things to the mentee that he or she might not recognize otherwise. Mentors are excellent for forcing accountability to meet intangible business goals that no one else would push the salesperson to accomplish.
The busy salesperson might also consider hiring a business student or asking his or her boss to bring in an intern to eliminate time-consuming work that prevents active selling. Not only will it provide great experience for the student, it will help the salesperson feel more focused and less stressed as well.
The Importance of Social Selling
Some salespeople have established such a tight daily routine that they haven’t time left to engage in social selling. This is the practice of locating and engaging with new prospects via the various forms of social media. The problem with creating a daily schedule that’s too tight is that it doesn’t allow time to interact with prospects via social media who are at various stages of the sales cycle. By making social selling part of their everyday routine, sales representatives are much more likely to close deals because they have allowed themselves the time to nurture leads into paying customers.
Stay on Track with a Calendar System
Many electronic calendar systems such as Outlook allow people to break down their daily tasks into 30-minute increments. With as much as the typical salesperson must complete in a day, entering all commitments is the best way to ensure that he or she doesn’t overlook anything. This is where allowing for some flexibility also comes into play. If an unexpected situation comes up that demands the salesperson’s attention, he or she should attend to it and then get back to the planned daily tasks as quickly as possible.
Don’t Forget About Existing Clients
Chasing and landing a new deal brings an adrenaline rush that usually doesn’t come when dealing with more routine sales. However, it’s equally important to devote time to checking in with and nurturing existing customers to prevent them from feeling dissatisfied and looking elsewhere. An effective salesperson knows that both types of business are important and makes time in his or her daily schedule to work with new prospects and established customers.
The longer the salesperson is on the job, the easier it will be to create a daily or weekly schedule. The important thing is to remain flexible when a task or process needs to change.
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