Manage Your Time To Build Your Territory

laughs [Music] foreign [Music] once there was a Salesman very much like you he was clean cut likable and honest also trustworthy and loyal helpful friendly and so on he worked very hard and conscientiously but in spite of all this he wasn't selling as much as his boss wanted him to or as much as he wanted to and he thought he knew why I haven't got enough time to do this job right if I had more time I could make more calls but I need more time but unfortunately he couldn't arrange for more than 24 hours in any day so since he couldn't get more time he decided he'd have to squeeze more activity into the time he had I've got to go faster and he did he speeded up something fierce covering more ground every day every hour gotta go faster faster seeing more people quicker making more calls any kind of calls going so fast he could hardly see what he was doing or where he was going until he finally arrived as a real Cracker Jack sale Cracker Jacks which wasn't what he wanted at all and the moral the way to make better use of the time you have is not to go faster or to work harder but to work smarter oh you've heard that one before well maybe there's something to it let's take a look now if you question the soundness of that little Fable consider this most sales managers will tell you the excuse they hear most often from salesmen for less than satisfactory performance is they say they haven't got enough time to cover their territory as they'd like to too much travel too much paperwork too many people to call on you know they say they just don't have enough time how about you whether you've said it or not don't you really believe deep down that with more time you could produce more sales for your territory if you do believe that I've got news for you some good some bad the bad news is you're not going to get any more time you've got all there is but the good news is you don't really need any more time you've got enough if you're smart enough to use it right and plug up time leaks the fact is you have the time to do the job you want to do in your territory and in the time it takes the sand to run through this glass I'm going to try to prove that to you and to do that I have to know something important about your territory and I do I don't know the size of it it could be ten thousand square miles or 10 city blocks I don't know how many potential customers it has or how many competitors or even what you're trying to sell I don't need to know what I do know about your territory is what makes it absolutely unique the fact that it's yours and yours alone what that means is you're in full charge here and so this territory is only as good as you make it you alone only you can decide how it's to be covered and developed you determine who to call on when and how often you decide where to apply sales effort and time now granted if you really haven't enough time to handle your territory properly there is an alternative so maybe what we ought to do Charlie is Alter your territory or give you a different territory now wait a minute hold on I like my territory but that alternative may not exactly suit you the fact is as long as this is your territory and that's how you want it then it's yours alone to manage okay Charlie but I'm depending on you don't let me down okay remember no territory whatever its size of potential can manage itself you've got to do it nobody else will do it for you if they could or would you wouldn't be needed Where You Are so if you ever think of yourself as anything but a manager a manager of sales you're in trouble so recognize this in your territory you have to be more than the sales force you have to be the territory manager which brings us to this matter of time because managing your sales territory primarily means managing your time it means putting your time to the most productive use in making sales now maybe that sounds obvious and simplistic but let's not kid ourselves managing time for selling is not easy at all some salesmen simply can't do it and the reason is they're not tough-minded enough to take charge of a territory instead of letting the territory take charge of them look there's no sense in trying to make plans something always comes along to mess up your schedule I just take things as they come do what I can in the time that I've got that's the soft-minded approach to time and territory management when you're dealing with something as valuable and as limited as your time you've got to be tough-minded and that as you know requires dedication discipline and determination but let's be more specific to make your time pay off you've got to plan and plan smart and that word smart is worth remembering letter by letter let's analyze it to see what smart planning involves the first letter s stands for the first rule in time management schedule your time without a schedule without a plan you can fall into time wasting habits and lose sight of objectives some of the smartest salesmen I know start each day with a schedule of objectives in two parts one and it must do the other want to do the must have to be out of the way before the once get any of their time salesmen who don't schedule their objectives who don't set priorities on their time often become chronic time wasters they're the victims of a whole list of time Killers you know what these are poor route planning backtracking and covering a territory or failure to stay on the track when they're after a sale I pay you bill this was one of the best football games I've ever seen there's this one play in the fourth quarter absolutely incredible it's Fourth Down they've got the balls like an exciting football game Joe I'm sorry I missed it uh about the proposal that you mentioned on the telephone oh yes well uh now this is more or less what I had in mind uh it's all right there in the figures Hey listen before I forget I've got a couple extra tickets to Sunday's game how about are you sure that these figures are right well let me see um yes they're all right they might increase sometime soon well how about it well we have to take a few days to think about this but the game Sunday there's a lot of people after these tickets what are you talking about the football game Joe we can talk about football or business but I don't have time for both wasting your time is bad enough wasting a customer's time is fatal and then there's this time killer The Dropper inner hi Marie I was just passing by is there any chance of seeing Mr Bradford I've got a great new idea for him I think he's very busy this morning Mr Johnson but let me check something of Temple products is here to see you yes sir I'll tell him would you have a seat Mr Bradford will be out in just a few moments [Music] hi Johnson sorry but I'm completely jammed this morning anything I can do for you in a hurry we've developed a terrific new idea I'd like to tell you about Mr Bradford not today Johnson no time uh listen why don't you give me a call and uh I'll try to fit you in okay that's the old Lobby bryshop it's a champion time killer without a schedule without advanced planning it's too easy to slip up on details sometimes pretty important ones Mr Albert don't you agree that this is what you need well yes but to cost I made on your plant facilities I wrote up an application with you I'm sure you'll like I've got it all right here in black and white I'll show you so it's right here someplace I'm sure I had it with me wait until you see this policy I uh I must have left it in the office look why don't you drop it in the mail I'll take a look at it and let you know what I think okay and that may be the end of that deal then there's this time killer that everyone seems to fall victim to sometime or another now Mr Benson when you consider all the benefits of this new program I've just described wouldn't you agree that the price is really quite reasonable yes yes I would frankly I'm impressed that's good to hear we can have it installed for you Thursday is that soon enough uh if it were up to me I'd say go ahead but the final decision on this has to come from our production Chief production Chief yes he's out of town this week he'll be back Monday now if you can come back then and give him the same story I'm sure that you can do some business of course I can't promise anything the time you spent selling the wrong person is time wasted you have to know your prospects in order to avoid this in order to make good use of your time so rule number one schedule your time don't lose it don't waste it plan your objectives and avoid time killers now for rule number two M make time now don't misunderstand this doesn't mean what you might think making time should mean making time productive whether or not you're with a customer Mr Chapman should be back in about 20 minutes if you'd like to wait that's fine that'll give me time to get some facts from your Foreman Mr Chapman introduced me to him last week where can I find him one way to make time productive is to use it together necessary sales information so does that answer your question that's just what I wanted to know Bears out what I wanted to tell Mr Chapman there are many ways to make productive use of the time when you're not with customers when you have to wait it's a good time to go over your facts plan your approach and your presentation anticipate objections and those few minutes immediately after a sales call can pay big dividends for the future take three minutes to evaluate that call while it's still fresh in your mind jot down any facts you wish to remember about the prospect or ideas for making your next call on it more profitable this is part of making selling time productive and by the way let's understand what selling time is and what it is not don't believe the guy who says there's no point in calling on anybody before 10 o'clock in the morning they're busy with the mail and all it's been about 11 30 they're going online you're thinking about going to lunch yeah but you can't always show up don't waste your time between 11 30 and 2. I'll come to think about it right after lunch the guy's probably a little sleepy maybe say 2 30 to 4 you can get in some likes wait a minute you're saying now after four forget about it they're ready to fold up and go home you mean to say they're only three hours a day when it's worth calling on customers yeah that's trouble with this business that's why I'm about to get out of it and he should anybody who thinks you can only sell between 10 and 11 30 and 2 30 and 4 ought to get out of the business of course sometimes are better than others for calling on customers but tough-minded salesman operate on the theory that almost any time can be made profitable for example of what constitutes good selling time take a look at the television industry prime time is evening time when most sets are turned on it's the best and highest price time TV has to offer but that doesn't mean broadcasters don't make profitable use of the rest of the time also for a healthy profits the words to all songs here's how to order it's the same with you anytime you can arrange to see a customer can be prime selling time I can be there at eight o'clock or earlier if you like to limit yourself arbitrarily to less than a full day of selling is to throw away sales and thanks again Mr Kaufman I'll get back to you tomorrow that'll be fun thank you Sam it looks like I can beat you too once more make your time whether or not it's face-to-face selling time make time productive okay now the letter A the third rule of smart planning allow time allow time to do a thorough selling job John this meeting thing came up I can give you about 15 minutes I'll need more than 15 minutes for what I have to tell you more like 30 minutes can we set something up for later sure say uh tomorrow 9 30. sure I'll be here if you need 30 minutes to make a presentation it's a waste of time to try to do it in half that time so allow enough time to do what you have to do and beyond that allow time for the unpredictable problems and delays it's not smart planning to set up schedules so tight so inflexible that any unforeseen problem can wreck your entire plan for the day you're going to have to expect the unexpected customers needing special assistance before you go don I want you to get with the boys in production and straighten them out on some problems I've got all kinds of unexpected emergencies and broken appointments if you allow time for the unexpected in your schedule you can avoid the Chain Reaction effects of delays and follow-ups this is the day I'm going to write up more business than any six guys on this floor I got Acme set up for 9 30. Consolidated for 10 15 and Farley brothers Farley brothers for 11 o'clock well I get to ask me they want me the whole morning so I co-consolidated Consolidated reschedules me for the afternoon but when I call Farley brothers they want the same time as Consolidated so I called back Consolidated they say forget it we'll see you maybe in a month now I've been on the phone about 30 or 40 minutes when I get off the phone my man at Acme is in another meeting he'll see me maybe after lunch so I tell the girl at the desk I said did you tell a man I was making arrangements so he could see me the whole morning she said it slipped my mind so you know what happened I didn't sign anyone how much time should you allow for the unexpected some sales experts say you should figure in as much as 15 of your time to protect you against scheduled disruptions and delays this could mean allowing extra time for that important customer who seems to insist on a certain amount of small talk did I ever tell you how I got started in this business yeah it's back in 33. I just graduated from college Seems Like Only Yesterday experience will usually tell you how much time to allow for this kind of thing the important thing is to anticipate delays and allow time for them in your scheduling or was it 37 no it was 36 anyway I opened my first door now obviously there are always going to be problems you can't anticipate or plan for Jim Franklin yes put him on good morning Bill oh it's not eh oh what's the problem you're kidding you're not kidding well I can't possibly make it this morning foreign maybe I can make it this morning though how about 10 o'clock okay fine see you then things like this will happen but by allowing time in your schedule for the unexpected by not scheduling your time too tightly you can avoid most serious Chain Reaction disruptions so again smart planning requires allowing time to do a thorough job and allowing time for those inevitable time wasters you can't plan for and this brings us to the fourth principle of time and territory management are ration your time your selling job is limited by the clock and the calendar there's no way you can give all the time you'd like to every customer in Prospect you can't divide it up equally among them all so you must ration it so that most of it goes to the potentially most profitable customers it's not good sales management to spend as much time on the customer who can say we'll take two cases as you do on the one who can tell you we'll take two car loads you ration time to a customer according to the sales potential he represents in the time you invest in him by the way doesn't just mean the time you spend calling on him in fact we ought to retire the old myth some salesmen still believe the more time you spend in face to face with customers the more you'll sell the fact is that's true only to a point and it depends on the prospects themselves come on in Georgie Boy always glad to see you but like I told you last week we won't be in the market for at least a year well I just thought I'd drop by that's how it is hey how's your golf game let me tell you last weekend I shot the greatest the more time you spend face to face with that Prospect the less you'll sell the truth is very often time invested preparing for a call laying the groundwork for sound persuasive presentation can be far more productive selling time than the actual face-to-face time with a customer what counts is not how much time you spend with prospects it's how much time you spend selling it's not how many calls you make it's how much you sell per call and on that basis some selling calls just aren't worth the valuable time they take away from more productive effort that's the reason for rationing time and to do this you have to know the potential of the customers and Prospects throughout your territory before you can ration your time profitably you have to evaluate your prospects the way I do it is this I have a card for every customer but I've divided them into three groups labeled a b and c now my a group are my best customers my Prime accounts now I spend most of my time with this group even though it's the smallest now in the B group why are my my average accounts and Prospects they're important but not as important as the a accounts so I spend less time with them the C group is the largest in number they're made up of my poor prospects my less profitable accounts they get the least amount of my time I would say that I spend 60 percent of my time with the a group between 20 and 25 with the B group and my C customers get about 10 percent of my time the exact method you use to ration your time is really up to you the important thing is to concentrate most of your time and effort on your best customers the fact you a lot less time to less profitable customers obviously doesn't mean you ignore them don't call on them but there's a way to make calls fast and frequently to maintain Constant Contact telephone by telephone you can keep in touch with BNC customers so that you know when and if a personal call is Justified just want to know if there's anything we could do for you really sure you bet I can be there and of course you can make good use of the telephone to confirm your appointments I have 11 o'clock appointment with Mr Smith and I'd like to know oh I'm super quick phone call can often say they wasted trip and wasted time remember when a Salesman chose respect for time it earns respect for him another thing by calling to confirm appointments Mr Blair I was just calling to let you know I'm on my way to keep our 10 30 appointment the prospect knows you intend to be punctual this helps reduce or eliminate waiting time hello oh yes Mr Blair's expecting you he said to come right in thank you very much the telephone is best helps in rationing your time profitably concentrating most of your time where there's the most sales potential now that final letter T it stands for the most important principle of all in managing time for sales take time to time to sell every time is necessary to make the sale you're after if this means working on your own time to get ready for an important presentation do it a tough minded salesman never fences himself into rigid 40-hour week limits I've got contract right here and now can I get you to sign this amount we're not ready for that yet if posing the sale requires an extra hour take that time oh really well I thought we had this all set Chuck and I have studied this pretty carefully and we're not absolutely convinced that these once you've started on a really good sale stay with it don't drop it for any reason if you do you throw away all the good time you've already put into it okay now you want to take a look at that and uh while you do do you mind if I make a phone call no go ahead take time to make the sale regardless of what this does to your schedule if it means a whole change of plans so be it Harry yeah hi this is Bill listen I'm really sorry but I'm not going to be able to keep that 3 30 appointment and uh well no I don't know if I can be there by four or not uh listen can we reschedule that thing because the whole point of managing time is to manage sales the idea is not to make calls but to make sales this looks a lot better but we still have a couple of questions okay well what are they the object is not to keep on a schedule it's to keep selling so let's repeat it once you commit yourself to trying for sale take whatever time is required to close it take the time whatever it does to your schedule now then if this sounds contradictory to all I've been saying about the importance of scheduling the use of your time think it over the truth is if you do plan smart if you schedule your time and don't waste it if you make your time all of it productive time if you allow time for the unpredictable if you ration your time according to the greatest sales potential then you're going to have the time you need you'll be able to take whatever time is necessary to make the sale and with that kind of smart planning you'll find it taking the necessary time will very rarely mean serious damage to your schedule so there it is a smart tough-minded plan for managing your territory or put another way managing sales in your territory if you've ever told yourself I don't have enough time to do my job then it's time you ask yourself this question instead am I making the smartest use of the time I've got and there's only one way you can get the answer it's by what we might call a test of time your time and I'm going to challenge you to make that test here's what it involves for the next two weeks to a month however long is necessary to give a clear picture use this book to keep a log of your working time put down everything you do down to quarter hour intervals and be honest no one else but you will ever see this when you're through you'll have a complete record of how you used your time over this period Then Analyze This Record total of the time you wasted the time you lost the time you could have put to better use otherwise see what percentage of your working time you actually devoted to preparing for and making sales which is your job I can tell you now from this analysis you're going to have to come to one of two conclusions there are no other alternatives number one this log this test of your time may tell you you're making the best possible use of your time you're managing your territory perfectly in other words you're already applying all the principles of smart planning in which case congratulations you've earned this you can wear it proudly you're one in a million the only other conclusion you could possibly draw from analyzing your time in this log is this you've got room for improvement you could be making better more profitable use of your time if that's what you find out then you're awarded this it's to remind you to start applying the rules and principles of smart TNT planning time and territory planning I don't know which of these two Awards you'll get but I do know this in your own best interest you should find out for yourself okay my time's almost run out but yours isn't what I started out to show you is that now right now you do have the time you need to do your job right to mind your time and to manage your territory for maximum sales results you have the time provided you use it according to a Smart Plan profitable use of time is what territory management is all about there will never be a better time than right now to begin so will you start today [Music]