If you’re like me, your day is broken up into too many different pieces.
It’s simply the way life is, and if we don’t know how to use it to our advantage, then we’ll never be able to achieve the results we know we’re capable of.
Most salespeople — and I’ll put myself in this group — set aside time during the week to make prospecting calls, including following up on leads, etc.
Problem is the time we set aside is never enough, but trying to find more time can be next to impossible due to everything going on.
Key is in knowing how to take advantage of those times when you find yourself waiting for a meeting to start, or sitting in an airport, etc.
To use these small windows of time to your advantage, do what I refer to as “speed dating with your prospects.”
Rather than merely using the time to check email or some other activity that really is not of high value, take the time to call a prospect. To do this effectively and quickly, what you need is either a note on your smart phone with the name and follow-up point you want to leverage or a piece of paper you carry with the same information written on it.
For me it’s a notepad I carry where I keep the name and follow-up point clearly written out. By having this information easily available, I’m able to use that open moment to go get more business. Yes, it does mean I will have to then later add my notes to my CRM system, but even having to do that, I’m still ahead of the game.
Try this technique with your prospects.
Some of you might argue that making a prospecting call on the fly isn’t good because you’re not fully prepared. I’ll agree for some very high level calls this can be true, but for the vast majority of prospecting calls, being able to make the call now versus not being able to make the call will outweigh any downside.
Copyright 2012, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
2 Responses
It’s a good idea – I often spend that time checking (and deleting) emails, which could be done after the ‘money time’ of day. But instead of relying on paper, I use Handheld Contact with ACT! I have it set to show me all clients and prospects – and it has all the contact info, tasks and my calendar with activities (and syncs automatically). I just find it better to have everything in one place (as on my BlackBerry). I think they could improve the GUI for it, but it’s a nifty tool. I suspect most CRMs have something similar for SmartPhones. And thanks for all the good info!
How interesting that you mention how you can use your extra time for speed dating like this. I want to meet someone this month. I will find a great speed dating service locally to help with this.