A Simple Strategy to Better Manage Your Time | Sales Strategies

I often get bombarded with questions from overwhelmed salespeople and sales managers on how to manage their time effectively given everything they have to do in a day.

It’s not just about making phone calls or seeing customers—it’s about sending emails, monitoring social media, posting topics, and prospecting for new business. There are so many things going on in our world that it can get overwhelming to manage them all. And one trick that I’ve always used in my selling career is to manage my downtime or my filler time effectively.

For example, while waiting for your customer to come greet you in the lobby, make sure that you’ve apps loaded on your phone so that you could monitor your social media.

I’ve always been a huge fan of using my airplane time effectively. If I have to be away from my family, I’m going to use every single one of those minutes as a time to get work done. Whether it’s during takeoff, landing, in the middle of a flight, or sitting waiting for a flight, utilize that time to get work done. It’s going to ensure that, when you land, you’re fresh, ready to go, and you can spend that time with your family or in front of your customers without stress.

I have one client who uses her downtime very effectively. She goes to work every day on the bus and in her commute, which is around 45 minutes, she spends that entire time looking for leads that she can call when she gets into the office or pass on to her sales team as she manages a crew of inside salespeople. What else could she be doing on the bus? Sure, she could be playing solitaire or Angry Birds, but instead, she chooses to do some of the work that she needs to do in order to be effective at her job. 

If you’re feeling overwhelmed and stressed, think about looking for chunks of time in your day that are 5 or 10 minutes—downtime or filler time to actually getting a couple of those tasks completed. I promise you’ll find that you won’t spend more time working in your day.