MANUFACTURERS’ ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH CENTRAL PA

SALES REPS’

Personal Organization & Time Management

Rube Goldberg Machine

Typical Pricing Procedure for PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Size up the Customer

Reference past successesIn tackling similar sized customer

Add duty, freight, landed cost, + value-added + Mark-up + Commissions

+ Next month’s Exchange Rate = Initial Quote

Reduce price by 5% if you encounter customer resistance

Weigh Gross Profit

Execute Purchase Order

Factor in cost of Excess Trim / Waste

Value Added Time (AKA Sales Time)

How much time do you spend actually selling

Vs…..?

1. Paperwork

2. Downtime

3. Meetings

4. Proposals

5. Idle chit-chat…visiting…websites…personal business

6. Other non-value added activities

Personal Organization & Time Management

What is time worth?

Wages + Fringe Benefits / # Hours Worked

($30,000 X 1.45%)/2080 hours=Hourly Value

$43,500 / 2080 = $20.91/hour

Cost of Value Added (Sales) Time

80% Other Stuff = 2080 X 80% = 1664 hours

20% Selling = 2080 X 20% = 416 hours

$43,500 / 416 = $105/hour

Sales Time

Options for increasing Sales time

1. Work longer hours

2. Get better results from time you work

For Example: Increase sales time to 30%

2080 X 30% = 624 hours

$43500 / 624 hours = $70 hour (Vs $105/hour)

Improving Time Management

Know Yourself– Tendencies– Strengths– Weaknesses– Goals

Identify Common Time Wasters Have a Daily Use–of-Time Strategy Establish Regular Planning Times Be Ruthless With Your Self-discipline

Plan you

r tim

e /

work you

r plan

Procrastination

Procrastination is the number one cause of poor time use! It comes from:

– Fear of unknown

– Putting things off Decisions

Actions

Problem Solving

– Waiting for perceived more-favorable time in future

Overcoming Procrastination I

Do you work best under pressure?

In what areas of your job do you typically procrastinate?

WHY?

Do you avoid difficult people or decisions? WHY

Overcoming Procrastination II

Do you often postpone actions requiring a lot of– Time energy– Creativity– Effort– Practice

Are your goals clearly established?

Do you have time frames for them?

Procrastination Log

Start a procrastination Log Record everything you put off

– Decisions– Actions– Difficult Tasks– Important phone calls– Customer Problems– Other ________________

DO-IT-NOW PHILOSOPHY

TWO OPTIONS:

I CAN DO NOTHING OR I CAN DO SOMETHING….

Pair up and develop a list of actions, decisions, objectives, problems you are putting off today:

1.____________________________________________

2.____________________________________________

3.____________________________________________

4.____________________________________________5.____________________________________________

Time Management

Are you late with assignments or appointments? Do you find yourself often rushing? Are you a workaholic? Do you look forward to Fridays or Mondays? Are you an early or late riser? Are you a morning or Evening Person? Do you consider your life balanced and in harmony or

out-of-balance? Where are you out of balance and why?

Prime Time

Question…… What is Prime Time?

Answer….. The time of Day when you are at your best

So……..Are you a morning or afternoon person?Does energy fade during a certain time of day?

Common Time Attitudes

1. There is always tomorrow2. There is never enough time to do a good job3. I have too much on my plate4. There are too many demands made on my time5. There is too much paperwork6. I don’t have enough time to waste time on good/bad prospects7. My territory is too large8. I have too many customers/prospects9. I don’t have anyone to delegate to.10. I have to do it myself if it is going to be done right

Concentration (AKA FOCUS)

Concentration is the ability to give 100% focus to an action, a project, assignment, decision, or activity.

Can you walk and chew gum at same time? Sure, so multi-tasking is possible, but be aware that a critical trait of a good sales person is the ability to concentrate and focus.

Focus Factors

1. If you make a lot of mistakes this could be a sign you lack focus

2. Inadequate planning may cause you to suffer in execution later.

3. What is taking your eye off the ball in this activity?

4. Does your mind wonder while in conversation with others?

5. Do you have a cluttered environment?

6. Do you rush, or give a person of assignment the time it deserves?

7. Is it easier to do it again rather than do it right the first time?

8. Do you ever forget ideas or misplace where you put things?

9. If you are late or unprepared this could be evidence of poor concentration.

10. Periodically ask yourself, does this activity have my full attention?

Expectations

To improve business “out there”, control what you can control “in here”…Your own mind”If Business slows, how do you do the following?

1. Think differently2. Act more creatively3. Sell more aggressively4. Work smarter5. Think faster

6. Work harder7. Get up earlier8. Go to bed later9. React sooner

Prioritize

Establishing priorities is a difficult task for many people. They tend to give equal status to everything or are unrealistic about their ability to get things done within a certain time frame.

URGENT NOT URGENT

IMPORTANT 1. DO IT NOW 2. PLAN TO DO IT

NOT IMPORTANT

3. REJECT & EXPLAIN

4. RESIST AND CEASE

Urgent and Important Time Management Matrix

People who are not good at time management, nor in managing their environment, tend to spend most of their time in boxes 1 and 3.

1 - DO THESE TASKS NOW!

• Emergencies, complaints and crisis issues • Demands from superiors or customers • Planned tasks or project work now due • Meetings and appointments • Reports and other submissions • Staff issues or needs • Problem resolution, fire-fighting, fixes

Subject to confirming the importance and the urgency of these tasks, do these tasks now. Prioritize according to their relative urgency.

2 - PLAN TO DO THESE TASKS

• Planning, preparation, scheduling

• Research, investigation, designing, testing

• Networking relationship building

• Thinking, creating, modeling, designing

• Systems and process development

• Anticipation and prevention

• Developing change, direction, strategy

Critical to success: planning, strategic thinking, deciding direction and aims, etc. Plan time-slots and personal space for these tasks.

3 - REJECT AND EXPLAIN

• Trivial requests from others

• Apparent emergencies

• Ad-hoc interruptions and distractions

• Misunderstandings appearing as complaints

• Pointless routines or activities

• Accumulated unresolved trivia

• Boss's whims or tantrums

Scrutinize and probe demands. Help originators to re-assess. Wherever possible reject and avoid these tasks sensitively and immediately.

4 - RESIST AND CEASE

• “Comfort” activities, computer games, net surfing, excessive cigarette breaks

• Chat, gossip, social communications

• Daydreaming, doodling, over-long breaks

• Reading nonsense or irrelevant material

• Unnecessary adjusting equipment etc.

• Embellishment and over-production

Habitual “comforters” not true tasks. Non-productive, de-motivational. Minimize or cease altogether. Plan to avoid them.

Consider the following:

1. Do you always work from to-do lists?

2. Do you have system of prioritizing prospects, customers, projects, tasks, activities?

3. Do you tend to rate all of your tasks or to-dos equally important?

4. If you prioritize do you always complete the most important one first or jump around the list?

5. Do you tend to allow outside influences determine your priorities?

6. Can you complete one task prior to starting another?

7. Are you realistic about your ability to complete a specific task in a specific time period?

8. Do you use your down-time to catch up or do you fritter it away?

TIME TIP

For the next seven days, keep track of your routine activities and how much time they take, i.e., reading the newspaper, misunderstanding, correcting errors, overproducing, Internet activity, playing telephone tag, reading non-value added e-mail, etc…

BALANCING MULTIPLE ISSUES

Decisions /Choices1. Eliminate something

from your plate

2. Better manage issues & roles

3. Get better organized

4. Live with continued stress of poor organization

LEAD TO:

Expectations of customers

Requirements of position

Routine activities

Expectations of supervisors

Personal needs & desires

Perso

nal g

rowth

INTENT

1. Do you let yourself off-the-hook when you fail to meet your goals?

2. Do you have an action plan or mission that guides you?

3. Have you let others negatively impact your ability to accomplish what you desire?

MOVEMENT

1. DO YOU TRACK YOUR PROGRESS DAILY?

2. DO YOU REWARD YOUR SUCCESSES?

3. DO YOU BREAK DOWN YOUR GOALS

INTO SMALLER STEPS?

4. DO YOU MAKE PROGRESS EVERY DAY?

5. DO YOU GIVE UP EARLY OR EASILY?

OVERCOMING FEAR OF REJECTION

1. The fear of rejection is one of the major causes of failure in sales.2. Not everyone you try to sell to will want to buy from you.3. If you don’t ask for anything, something…it is unlikely you will

ever get it.4. The fear of rejection is an attitude issue and can only be

overcome by strengthening other attitudes, such as confidence, self-belief, patience, trust and your self-image.

5. The fear of rejection is a symptom of a need for acceptance, approval, or validation.

6. The fear of rejection sends a loud non-verbal message that you lack confidence or belief in your product or service or your ability to help them to solve their problems.

OVERCOMING FEAR

1. Pick-up the phone and make the next call2. Ask for the customer’s business or the order3. Ask probing questions4. Ask for referrals5. Ask for a bigger order6. Ask for a letter of testimony7. Follow-up on a customer who has a problem8. Ask for a cash deposit9. Ask for a long term contract10. Ask for more responsibility in your position

INDECISION

1. Do you have a system for learning from mistakes?

2. What are your resources or sources of information to make a wise decision?

3. Do you have a systematic method of making decisions?

MANAGING YOUR TIME I

1. ASK MORE EFFECTIVE QUESTIONS EARLIER IN THE SALES PROCESS

2. PAY ATTENTION TO THEIR ANSWERS TO DETERMINE WHETHER THIS IS A GOOD TIME TO TRY AND SELL THIS PROSPECT

3. DEVELOP A CUSTOMER PROFILE TO USE AS A TEMPLATE FOR YOUR PROSPECTING

4. Audit your sales calls activity by dividing the number of calls you make in a week by the number of hours worked in that week. This will give you a sales call per hour rate

MANAGING YOUR TIME II

5. Get up earlier /Go to bed later; then use this extra time for planning, thinking or evaluating your routines

6. Develop a daily checklist of what you need to do to be more effective

7. Keep accurate sales records. The more information you keep the better able you will be to spot potential problem areas.

MANAGING YOUR TIME III

8. Make a daily / weekly appointment with yourself to do reports or paperwork

9. Categorize your administrative tasks into:

A). I must do’s now / today

B). I should do’s now / today if I have time

C). I will do when I finish my A’s & B’s

10. Meet with your supervisor to see if you can reduce or eliminate a particular non-value-added activity

MANAGING YOUR TIME III

11. Develop habit of asking yourself: Do I need to do this now? Can someone else do this?

12. Get off spammers e-mail lists Check e-mail at certain times of day only Don’t read personal e-mail during selling time Use the telephone, it’s faster than typing an e-mail What can you add to this list? _____________

TIME TIPS

WHAT TIME SAVERS HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL FOR YOU?– FILES– EXAMPLES