Perfect Sales Efficiency - by Bill Farquharson
Perfect Sales Efficiency
By Bill Farquharson
Part of time management—a BIG part of time management, actually—is making the most of your selling day. Call it, “sales efficiency.” That is, are you making the most of the limited selling hours in any given selling day? In particular, what does a good day out of the office look like? The sad irony of Sales is that the more successful you become, the less time you have to become more successful. And yet, consider this: You are being outsold by a competing sales rep who has similar equipment and sells in the same territory. He/She has the same number of hours in the week as you do and yet is selling more than you in less time than you. Why? There are many possible answers. One is, he/she has achieved perfect sales efficiency.
Insert angel chorus here.
Efficiency. That means wringing every possible drop of opportunity from a sales day. Simply leaving the office to make a call and returning immediately ain’t gunna cut it, Sport. You need to be better, stronger, faster. More efficient.
Here, then, is the protocol to follow:
Before you leave:
• Gather everything you need: Samples, your portfolio, GPS;
• Make a list of the “B” level calls you need to make that day (see below);
On the way:
• Do: Pick up the phone and call those “B” level calls. These might be customer check-in’s, calls back to the shop to check on an order, a conversation with your boss, even personal or family calls. It’s a good use of this time.
• Don’t: Make prospecting calls from the car while driving. The message it sends to the customer is, “You are not important enough for me to call you from a landline.”
After your sales call:
• Who else could you see in the area?
• Do you have any prospects you’ve been calling nearby? Call them one more time and leave one more message: “I am going to be down the road from you and would like to swing by and stick a business card in your hand. I expect to be there at…”
• Are there any customers you can stop by and see?
• Is there any cold calling you can sneak in while in the area?
On the way back:
• Check in with the office;
• Make more “B” level calls;
• Pop in an instructional or motivational CD
Increasing sales efficiency means planning well in advance. If today is Thursday and you score an appointment for next Tuesday, you should begin preparing to make the best use of your time while you are out of the office. Do it well, do it enough, and do it effectively and you will achieve the elusive goal of selling more in less time.
Make sense? Want more? Check out Bill Farquharson’s Sales Vault at SalesVault.pro/Partners or call Bill at 781-934-7036.