Time is of the Essence

When thinking of sales, we focus on how to sell, who we are selling to, and a lot of other factors. However, do we focus on time management? Time management is something everyone needs to be good at controlling in all professions and everyday life. Unfortunately, we let time get the best of us.

When selling to someone, it is important to create a relationship to build trust. It is also important for a salesperson to follow up with the customer. But how long should we invest in those relationships in order to build trust but also balance time for other customers or projects?

Unfortunately, there is no exact time range that one should spend with a client, but there are exercises you can do to get a grasp on the time you are spending with each customer. For example, on experience.com, they tell salespeople to bring a stopwatch with them for each client or prospect they talk with. This could be on the phone or in person. Overtime, this will give you an average of how much time you are spending with each customer. The article also said to record the time you are spending on paperwork, meetings, research, problem solving, etc. When looking back at the data, you will be able to see what areas you need to spend more time on and which areas you need to cut back on.

I thought this article had some helpful tips regarding time management and other aspects of sales. What I got the most out of this article was that there is no specific way to sell or manage time. Sales truly is a work in progress, but it is one that you can consistently improve upon as time goes on.