Don't Make This Mistake in Sales!

A few weeks ago we discussed two other deadly mistakes in sales. Another sales killer is poor time management .

An unsuccessful person spends most of their day on unprofitable activities and waits for the phone to ring. They spend most of his their time waiting for opportunity to find them rather than hunting for opportunity.

The most successful sales professionals are driven and focused. There is no time for distraction or negative self- talk. There is no procrastination or time for “admin work” during prime selling hours and they extend their day by starting early or working late (or both).

They are either in front of a client or planning to be in front of a client, and they have their calendar full weeks in advance.

Almost all successful sales people focus on three key things: their time; their objectives when dealing with clients; and what not to do to succeed.

The first and perhaps most important of these is time. No matter how wealthy, talented or successful we become, time is the one thing we can never get enough of. The top 10% of performers are acutely aware of the value of their time. As a result, they spend the most time doing those activities that make them the most money, and little time doing those tasks that earn them little or nothing.

When it comes to sales, this boils down to focusing your time on the three Holy Grails: Prospecting, Presenting and Closing. Notice that all three of these activities involve being face-to-face with prospects or customers. That’s because you sell more when you spend more time in front of your customers, whether prospecting for new business, presenting solutions to problems or closing business.

Mediocre performers, on the other hand, routinely spend too much of their day on admin tasks, or tasks that don’t directly increase their value. In many cases, this is simply because they don’t know – or haven’t taken the time to calculate – exactly how much this wasted time is costing them.

Ideas for improvement:

Learn how to organize your time efficiently by using the many methods and tools that are available. Be disciplined. Make the commitment to improve your time management skills and seek out and practice the good counsel of experts in the field through books, seminars, and training programs. Read the No BS guide to Time Management by Dan Kennedy or Getting things Done by David Allen. You can find them our reading list


Know the value of your time. Check out our full article on time management to calculate what your time is worth and what you want it to be worth. After you know the value of your time outsource EVERYTHING you can get one for less than you are worth per hour. Your job is to spend as much time as you can work in those areas that increase for hourly wage.

If you want to be disciplined, keep track of your time for a couple weeks to see where you are really doing everyday. For a copy of the time tracker we use, email me at sales@engageselling.com .

It does’t matter what system you use, as long as you put it to work to make the best use of your time! How you use your time will determine your net worth at the end of the day!

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen