Time and Territory Management | Analyze Your Database
Jeb Blount provides tips on getting the most from your scarce resources.
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Time and Territory Management | Analyze Your Database
Few people in today’s economy are not feeling the pinch from high fuel costs. This is especially true for outside sales professionals – even if your company is paying a portion of your fuel bill. This week we will explore how to reduce costs and improve your income through time and territory management.
Time and territory management is best defined as “getting the most out of your sales day by planning the most efficient use of scarce resources.” Each year my team at SalesGravy.com is hired by companies and sales organizations to teach Sales Professionals how to better manage their time and territories. The reason that these companies are willing to invest in this training is simple. They realize that the one constant in every salesperson’s life is time. Time for prospecting, time for sales calls, time for demonstrations, time for tours, time for closing, and unfortunately time for administrative tasks and paperwork. Of course, time is the great equalizer. Every Sales Professional has exactly 24 hours each day and there are only a handful of these hours that are available for selling. It is how you use these sales Golden Hours that is often the difference between success and failure.
The benefits of effective time and territory management are many, including: less stress and worry, lower expenses, a healthier pipeline, account growth, more sales, a higher income, and more time to spend with your family. Simply put, when you master time and territory management you are happier, healthier, and you make more money.
There are five keys to effective time and territory management.
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Adopt a CEO Mindset which means taking complete ownership and accountability for your territory.
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Analyze Prospect and Account Data to understand account distribution, size and profitability.
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Create a Territory Map which organizes your territory by day and prospect distribution.
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Leverage Tools to Organize Your Time.
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Implement a Time and Territory Plan which is a strategic and tactical plan for managing your territory.
In Episode 7 we explored the CEO mindset, which is the most critical component of time and territory management. Unless and until you are willing to accept complete responsibility for managing your territory, nothing else matters.
Once you adopt a CEO mindset the next step is getting a clear understanding of your account and prospect database. Unfortunately many sales professionals have never taken time to thoroughly analyze the prospects and customers in their territory. Instead, they work hour to hour and day to day in a reactionary mode. This causes them to spend time with low profit customers and low probability prospects, which wastes precious time and sub-optimizes their income.
Top sales professionals regularly analyze their territory database asking questions like:
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Who are my Accounts and Prospects?
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Which of these Accounts and Prospects have the most potential?
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Where are they located and how are they distributed geographically?
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How will I prioritize and categorized my accounts and prospects?
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What will my visitation and call schedule be for each account, prospect or category?
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Are there creative ways to manage and develop hard to get to accounts and prospects?
These questions and more are crucial to understanding where and with whom you will get the most from your time. Salespeople who go through this process are almost always surprised by what they find. Many discover that they are spending far too much time with the wrong prospects and customers. Most are shocked that the distribution of viable prospects in their territories is much different than their initial perception.
However, after asking and answering these questions they gain insight that helps them develop a plan of action for their territory designed to generate more income, in the least amount of time, with the most efficient use of scarce resources.
Thank you for joining me on the Sales Guy’s Quick and Dirty Tips Podcast.
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