Thoughtful Thursdays - A process to consider when looking to avoid wasting time

In recent posts the subject of time has been discussed from the point of view of being in control of your time and potential cost implications to a prospect for a delaying decision.

Time is arguably one of your most valuable resources and today's thought focuses on how you might go about saving some.

When was the last time you took a good look at your sales process? Mapping it out is the first step to discovering how and where your time is spent. The goal is not to produce a detailed map as soon as possible, but to improve your understanding, identify opportunities for improvement and solve problems.

You have suppliers and inputs. Add work and you produce outputs that must meet customer requirements. The work is the process you want to map out. You may want to start keeping a log of your time and activities to be sure no steps are left out or taken for granted. Review of previous experiences is another source for this information.

Once you have a list of steps, add major decision points and any loops and support activities that may be part of the process. Take a look at the map as it is developed and walk through it to validate it and make any changes that are appropriate. At this point begin looking for things in your process that are done again.

HINT: LOOK FOR THE THE PREFIX "RE"

• Repeat
• Recheck
• Reenter
• Redesign
• Retest
• Rewrite
• Redo
• Return

These are the steps you want to examine in detail and potentially eliminate.

You can quantify your potential time savings by applying a timeline to the steps in your process. Some of the "re" steps e more worthwhile working on than others. When you do not have a definitive time for a particular step, take a best case and worse case approach. Use the best case as your target. The difference between the best and worst case is your opportunity for improvement.

Accurately mapping out your processes and follow up analysis can yield tremendous savings in time.

Good selling,
Richard

Thoughtful Thursdays - More thoughts on time

Two weeks ago my post Is time your friend or foe? talked about modifying or putting new routines in place in order to have better control over the use of your time. In other words, doing something different to buy some of your time back.

I don't think I would be going out on a limb by saying that the majority of people are being asked to do more with less.What insights can you draw from this tidbit of information? You might be encountering objections based on a perceived lack of time to move your sales efforts forward.

I have encountered the objection myself: "Richard, we just don't have the time to test your product right now".  The gauntlet was clearly laid down and my challenge was to find them the time.

Obviously it was not as simple as adding an extra hour to the clock as the above image might suggest. In each case it required me to review and confirm the numbers. In order to advance the sales process I had to have a plausible story that would raise the level urgency of having our products tested. Based on previous experience, the call to action was not based the on short term costs of conducting trials, but the price they would pay in the long run by delaying them.

Good selling,
Richard

Thoughtful Thursdays - Stay the course

Today's thought goes out to the entrepreneurs in the throws of launching their business ideas. A subject that often comes up in meetings with new business owners is the feeling of being overwhelmed and not being able to get everything on the to do list completed.

There are many good books on the subject of getting things done including the book by that same name by David Allen.

One of the keys to successfully tackling the to do list is scheduling and sticking to that schedule. Every time your schedule changes, there is a chance that some tasks will get moved out. Be mindful of the consequences when you do make changes and accept them. Life happens and delays are often unavoidable.

Something that works for me is to check my schedule every day before I do anything else. Confirming what has been already been planned helps prevent the addition of tasks when there is no time available. Another practice is to resist changing the schedule once it is in place, especially if you are in the middle of doing something that was planned.

These days you can spend a great deal of time processing email. When I receive an email I do one of three things with it.

1. Delete it because it does not concern me
2. Respond immediately
3. If if can wait or something has to be done before responding, schedule the time in my calendar for the necessary work.

Minimizing the number of  messages in your inbox is a one way to help reduce the stressors that can contribute to the feeling of being overwhelmed.

Good selling,
Richard

Thoughtful Thursdays - How many selling days do you really have?

Today's thought is about how much time a new business owner really has for selling. In order to achieve sales forecasts, time must be dedicated to sales. In a previous post I talked about how Time Flies.

If there are two numbers I see underestimated on a very consistent basis by new entrepreneurs they are the number of prospects it takes to identify a potential customer, and the length of time it takes to close a sale.

Taking a leap year as it has the extra day to that might be devoted to sales, there is a maximum of 366 days to sell.

From this point on, you begin to loose potential selling days to:

• Weekends
• Statutory holidays
• Vacation time
• Sick days
• Personal days
• Professional development
• Business operations - this will increase as sales increase
• Administrative tasks

Well, I am sure you get the point. My suggestion to all is not to let the average number of days for sales fall below 2 per week.

The sooner sales are achieved and positive cash flow is consistent, thoughts can be directed to ways of buying time back by outsourcing business activities. The result will be more available time that can be dedicated to selling.

Good selling,
Richard

Thoughtful Thursdays - Do you manage your sales activities?

I planned to to it, but I ran out of time.

Either you planned too many activities in the first place or there was a distraction that took you off your schedule. Many distractions are unplanned and out of our control, that is a part of life.

Today's thoughts focus on what is in our control. Planning for more than what your personal capacity allows will inevitably lead to someone being disappointed. Hopefully it will not be your prospect or customer.

Whether you are able to allocate all your time to sales, or have the responsibility of running an entire company, the business will benefit significantly from a well managed sales process. The benefits include shorter sales cycles, faster receipt of payments and happier customers.

• Have detailed account plans for all key accounts
• Plan your daily schedule to minimize excess travelling time
• Allow enough time between appointments to complete sales reports, check voice mail, make return calls and travel to your next meeting
• Keep meetings on time
• Allocate entire days for sales activities, avoid mixing activities to stay focused
• Each call should lead to the next. Make sure to have a plan of action for the next call. Don't leave the customer without setting up the next meeting
• Prepare for your calls  in advance - make sure you are ready
• Set aside time each week to review your sales activities, measure your results against expectations and confirm your activity plan the for the next week
• Avoid "reflex" reactions to customer requests - stick with your plan. Most of the time it can wait for a day or two

Good selling,
Richard