10 Time Management Tips for Sign Sales Reps
"Time is money." This is a common phrase we all have heard. As a sales rep of signage, print, or any other custom product, you know this is true. How you spend your time is going to definitely affect how many deals you close, as well as the quality of the deals you close. Sales reps that have mastered time management are often very successful. Sales reps often have many tasks they need to do on a regulars basis - everything from calls, note taking, quotes, follow ups, networking, organizing, events, and maintaining relationships. This is why time management is vital - so you don't get lost in simply "doing things." Learning to prioritize tasks and to become more productive takes practice and change. Sometimes it's a lot of little actions that add up to you losing lots of time and sometimes its the big decisions you make that make your time management waiver. Reflect on how you spend your time and see where you can improve. To help you get started, here are few tips and tricks to help you brainstorm:
Phone Extensions: How much time have you spent trying to reach a specific person in which you did not have their direct extension? Remember how you wasted 5 to 15 minutes longer than you would have if you have their direct line. When you make a new contact, always ask if they have a direct extension. Remember to add this direct extension into your shopVOX customer profile too!
Lessen some administrative tasks: Administrative tasks take up a lot of little time that adds up! For example, if you are a sales rep that creates quotes, use a system that allows you to create quotes and then when the quote is approved you can send it right to the project manager without the need to rewrite nor copy and paste anything. As a shopVOX user, you can easily do this.
Integrate: Integrating your information with other software can save you so much time. For example, integrating your contacts from gmail to your shopVOX account is super easy and allows you to email right from shopVOX too! This is a huge time savor. Best Time of Day to Prospect: Almost every sales "expert" will share with you their ideal time to reach their potential buyers. Unfortunately, there is often not one best time to reach all of your prospects. Therefore, when you first meet a potential customer, ask them when the best time to call is. Then call them at that time.
Just do it: Of course, there are those tasks that you completely dislike doing. You know what they are - those tasks that you push away, do everything else before, and tend to sidetrack yourself so you can avoid it. Just do them! Just get them out of the way. This avoiding actually wastes a lot of time. Do them first and be done with them. Once you are done, all of the mental energy and time that may have been spent to avoid them can now be better used doing the tasks you enjoy better.
Notes: This is one important tip that I include often in my articles about sales tips -- because it is so important. We all know we should take notes, but often people avoid it because it takes a few minutes to write them down. However, think of all the time you spent trying to recall what said at a meeting or digging through message trying to find a specific detail or even worse, having to call the sales lead to remind you of something. Note taking does take a few minutes at first, but can certainly save you time in the future. In your shopVOX sales lead tool, there are areas to put your notes for easy retrieval instead of sifting through post its and loose papers.
Distraction management: These days, this is one of the biggest blockages of time management. Facebook, texting, Instagram, emails. coffee breaks, small talk, news, worrying and so much more are huge time wasters for most of us. Sure, a distraction is a nice break from your mind. But, too many breaks can cause you to lose momentum. Schedule one or two distraction times and during those times check your personal email, small talk, read timelines and sip that tea.
Stay on task: It's easy to be distracted and to move onto something else. But, finish one task completely, then move onto the next one. Then, you will get more accomplished and feel more satisfied. Schedule tasks if you are afraid you may forget something. As a shopVOX user, you can easily schedule any type of task that you need to!
Know what you are selling and who you are selling to: Know your target customer and what their needs are. Know your product so well that you know how it will benefit this target customer. Customize your pitches for better results. This will save you time in the long run.
Use management software: Of course I had to add this one since I know how valuable management software is for time management. You can easily keep track of your sales leads, appointments, notes, tasks and more in one space. This saves the time of sifting through post its, emails, piles of papers, boards, files and so on. Organization of all your sales lead information is super smart time management.
As a sign sales rep or any other sales rep, time management skills will help you free up time for more important things and can help you close more sales in less time. Have any more sales time management tips to offer? Share below!