How Can Time Management Make Selling Easier?

Do you ever feel like you're constantly prospecting but you aren't seeing any results? While this could be due to your skill level, territory or other factors, it's often because of the failurel to manage prospecting time effectively. If you're like most salespeople, you find yourself being distracted by dozens of other activities and never seem to have enough time to prospect.

After coaching nearly 5000 salespeople over the last decade, I've come to two conclusions:

1. Most of us don't like to prospect and so we avoid it
2. Most of us aren't naturally well-organized, and we love to wing it throughout the day

OK, so these observations aren't exactly a breakthrough. However, these problems still hold us back from getting more leads and appointments. The big question: What time management habits will have the greatest impact on our prospecting results? Here are 5 ideas you can implement immediately:

If you had an important appointment with a prospect, wouldn't you schedule it? Why should your prospecting calls be considered any less important? Most salespeople try to squeeze in their prospecting calls when they have time, and then hope for the best. Instead, schedule your prospecting time in advance. Identify the best times to call during the day and then reserve it. For example, I typically find that the best times to prospect are from 8:00-9:30, 11:30-12:00, and 4:30-5:15. Schedule at least 2 hours per day to prospect, 4 days a week.

2. When you're prospecting, you're not doing anything else.

What distractions do you encounter throughout the day? Relentless e-mails, questions from co-workers, database issues, and other unexpected events often interrupt our momentum when prospecting. While we have no control over some of these distractions, we have complete control over most of them. For example, how many times do you check e-mail between prospecting calls? Your challenge is to eliminate these distractions: turn off e-mail (I know it's a scary thought), let co-workers know you're unavailable, and wait until you're done calling before you take time to send information to prospects.

3. Plan in advance

You need to prepare for a successful prospecting session. Think about everything you'll need during your prospecting calls, and then take care of it in advance. Do you have your calls queued up in the database so that you don't have to figure out who to call next? Have you done your research already so you don't have to pause between calls to visit a company's website? By preparing in advance, you'll more than double your call volume during your prime prospecting hours.

4. Set a goal

It's easy to get faked out by being busy. Next time you make prospecting calls, set a goal for the number of dials and contacts you want to achieve within a specific time frame. Somehow, your brain seems to figure out how to achieve the goal for you and you'll find that it will help you stay more focused when you're prospecting.

5. Monitor your dials per hour

This is another type of goal. In addition to an overall goal for activity, establish a goal for the number of dials (attempts) you want to make each hour. Most salespeople have grown accustomed to a slow prospecting pace. They're like a race car that's never been out of first gear. Set a goal for a minimum of 15 dials per hour, and then work up to 25. Think it's impossible? I have hundreds of clients doing it--even the ones who sell million dollar solutions to Fortune 500 companies.

Use these 5 ideas to plan each prospecting day in advance. Focus on one day at a time (although sometimes several days attack you all at once). Most importantly, remember to focus on the right activities at the right times of the day.

What other time management strategies have helped you in your prospecting efforts? Write a comment and let us know.