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SAVVY
SELLING - JANUARY
20, 2006
Prioritize!
It's a Matter of Urgency
By Michelle Nichols
EXECUTIVE
OVERVIEW
To
sell more, analyze all your
selling duties by how urgent
and important they are and focus
on those that are urgent AND
important.
All sorts of obligations
demand our attention, but some
are more vital than others
While the Declaration of Independence
proclaims that all men (and
women) are created equal, not
all selling tasks are created
equal. If you want to sell more
and close faster, some activities
are much more valuable than
others. Once a year, it's a
good idea to evaluate your various
selling activities and decide
which ones to continue at the
same pace and which ones you
want to increase, decrease,
or stop doing altogether.
There's a simple exercise to
tune-up your selling process
and identify which activities
are the most valuable to you.
To begin, think back over the
last month or two and write
down a list of all your various
sales activities. Then rank
each one in terms of urgency
and importance.
At first glance, it may seem
these two characteristics are
the same, but let me clarify.
A task is urgent if it seems
as if the world is screaming
for you to do it right now,
like an insistent toddler. For
instance, making out the payroll
checks or paying your quarterly
taxes when they are due are
examples of tasks that are urgent
but aren't important in the
big scheme of developing your
business.
FOUR COMBINATIONS.
On the other hand, a task is
important if the quality of
the job could dramatically affect
your sales. Long-term planning
is an example of a task that
is important but rarely urgent.
Let's look at all four combinations
and explore how you can use
them to increase your sales
results. An hour or two of time
invested in this analysis will
help you leverage your time
and energy over the year ahead.
Obviously, you should spend
most of your time on activities
that are both urgent and important.
The best example of this is
time spent selling to qualified
prospects. Just imagine how
your sales would soar if you
spent 100% of your selling hours
in front of folks who need what
you sell, at the price you're
offering, and wanted to purchase
it today.
Mind-boggling, isn't it? And
yet, most of us spend an embarrassingly
small percentage of our selling
hours in this category. Resolve
now to spend more time in front
of customers who can buy and
your sales are guaranteed to
grow.
DOUBLE UP.
Next in importance are tasks
that are important yet not urgent.
They would include the above-mentioned
long-term planning or taking
some sales training, whether
from a class or a recent book.
Prospecting, networking, creating
marketing programs, and anything
else that falls under Steven
Covey's rule, "Sharpen
Your Saw," belong in this
category. These jobs must be
done by you personally or in
conjunction with other professionals.
Be careful not to spend too
much time on this group. I've
met sole proprietors who spent
a year writing policy and procedures
manuals when they should have
invested more of their time
in front of real, live customers.
Explore, if you can, multitasking
two or more of these activities.
For me, developing my spirituality
and my body are important because
they make me more effective.
These tasks are also tempting
to put off until tomorrow. I
solved this by starting each
day with some spiritual and
business reading while walking
on my treadmill. In fact, I've
renamed my treadmill my "Education
Station."
"SCRAP TIME."
I set my treadmill on a sensible
3 miles per hour pace, crank
up the incline to get my heart
pumping, get out my religious
books, and study away. After
my lesson is completed, I read
key stories in the morning newspaper.
I keep a pen, a highlighter,
and scissors nearby so I can
clip out stories to either forward
to customers or use to update
my selling spiel. By the time
I've walked a few miles and
burned a few hundred calories,
I have put myself in the right
frame of mind, worked up a healthy
sweat, and been brought up to
date on issues that affect my
business and my customers.
For marketing calls, carry
a list with you of folks you
want to contact during "scrap
time," that is, time that
would otherwise be wasted waiting.
You can use the same idea for
brainstorming on sales campaigns,
brochures, Web pages, and more.
If you get to an appointment
early, you can work from the
car. If a customer is delayed,
ask for an empty office or quiet
spot where you can complete
these important selling tasks.
Ranked third are jobs that
are urgent but not important.
These are great to identify
so you can outsource them. Accounting,
cleaning your office, and updating
your Web presence are some examples
of this. They have to be done,
and they have to be done well
because they reflect on your
company -- or keep you out of
jail -- but they don't have
to be done by you. Identifying
as many jobs as possible that
you can hire a professional
to handle to your level of satisfaction
is worth the time of finding,
hiring, and managing that vendor.
GET STARTED.
Last in importance are activities
that are neither urgent nor
important. Sometimes these are
just plain fun, like doing a
crossword or Sudoku puzzle.
There's certainly a place in
life for fun and relaxation,
but use these activities as
a reward, after you've completed
your selling tasks.
This "tune-up" of
identifying and ranking urgent
and important sales activities
is important but not urgent.
However, it can only help you
sell more if you stop now and
take the time to work your way
through it. You might want to
select an activity from the
last category as a reward for
completing the task. Even better
will be the harvest of increased
sales you'll reap. Happy selling!
Michelle Nichols is a professional
sales speaker and consultant
based in Reno, Nevada. She welcomes
your questions and comments.
You can visit her web site at
www.savvyselling.com
or contact her at michelle.nichols@savvyselling.com.
Her toll-free number is (877)
352-9684.
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