One
day I was giving a TimeGym Boot Camp to a seasoned and successful CEO.
In the boot camp we help clients identify their most profitable
activities, and hers was locating very large sales deals for her
company.
At one point during the Boot Camp, we
were clearing items out of her desk to reduce clutter. As we went
through a particular desk drawer, she pulled out a business card and
said, “I can’t believe I misplaced this. This is a 
huge lead. It’s worth several hundred thousand dollars to our company.”
Very often I am asked if I can help sales executives who, generally
speaking, are high on talent and low on productivity skills. Sales
execs rarely realize how much they are losing in sales each day due to
their personal disorganization. They typically do well with closing
leads that are hot and immediate, but do poorly with leads that require
more than one step of follow-up. Most lack 100% follow-through. Because
of this, sales execs lose sales to those who are better organized and
prepared to seize opportunities.
Here are three musts for sales execs to improve follow through and make more money:
- They must have a system for gathering leads and ideas.
Sales execs need a solid gathering point, one place where all leads,
ideas and business cards go. Many sales execs spread out leads and
business cards all over the place. Because they have to look in so many
different places to find contact information and paperwork, they lose
valuable time and, very often, big sales. - They must have a system for processing. Sales
execs must establish a pattern for regularly dealing with business
cards, leads and ideas. They need a set place and a set time, daily or
weekly, to go through the gathering point established in step one.
Every item gathered during the previous week should be looked at and
processed by the end of the current week. - They must have a calendar system that “pushes” them to take action. By
“push” I mean the calendar must drive sales execs to take action in a
timely manner. If they are using a paper calendar system and are not in
the habit of referring to it regularly, then the calendar becomes a
useless series of suggestions. For sales execs and others who are
entrepreneurial and creative, I strongly recommend a phone-based
calendaring system that buzzes at them or reminds them when it is time
to make a transition to a different activity. This puts the
responsibility of remembering into the hands of a “nearly” infallible
computer instead of putting it into the hands of their almost always
fallible mind.
While the cost
of not following through is tremendous, the benefit of establishing
these systems can yield thousands if not millions. Not only will sales
execs increase sales, they will experience the calmness that comes from
knowing they have 100% follow through.
