How to Spend Your Time Better
Here's one major truth about sales: We are all different humans who all sell differently. There is no one that sells like you, or finds sales success in the exact same way that you do. Anyone telling you differently is selling you a bill of goods. The first thing that you need to do, to find consistent success, is spend some time identifying how you sell most efficiently.
Here are some really critical things to ask yourself:
What are you doing when you're excited about selling? Who are you calling? What are you selling? The best salespeople focus on the lead lists that get them out of bed in the morning. I was always loved the challenge of selling to businesses. So that's where I focused. There are those who crush individual ticket buyers, and those that lean towards group buyers. Whatever it is that gets you excited...focus on it!
How much Self-Prospecting do you do? Every time I do a sales training I ask the question; 'Who would you rather sell to? Someone you met at a game or a cold ticket buyer lead?' I have never had a human answer the cold ticket buyer. So? Make a huge effort to get leads on game days. Self-prospect off your team's social media accounts. Self-prospect businesses you have familiarity with. Sell to your friends and family. Get referrals from your current buyers. No matter what sport, self-prospected leads close more efficiently and for more money than traditional leads. Whatever you do spend conscious time self-prospecting.
Where are you wasting time every day? If it's CRM, set up time to focus on CRM. If it's reading social media, schedule time in your day to do that so you have something to look forward to. If it's taking a long lunch, bring your lunch 2-3 days a week and eat at your desk. We spend a lot of time wondering how it got to be 5 pm...and fretting about leaving the office vs. hitting our call goal. I guarantee if you look at your days, there's at least an hour of time you can get back. So go get it!
Where do your most consistent sales come from? I loved selling to businesses, so I spent the majority of my time there. That said, I knew there were more consistent sales coming from ticket buyer leads. They were not my favorite calls to make, but, just like eating my fruits & vegetables, I have to do them to keep my sales healthy. Wherever you find consistency from a sales standpoint, keep swimming in that pond...and be conscious about scheduling time to do so every day.
The word 'conscious' was in the above a lot. That was for a reason. The best salespeople take conscious actions towards being more efficient with every minute they are given in a sales day. As you embark on your sales year in 2019, take a second and think about the questions above...and how you succeeded in 2018. The best salespeople are not the slickest salespeople. They are the most efficient salespeople. The quote on the right is the truth. We tend to repeat the same actions everyday and expect different results. Think a smart man said something about the results of that once...