different categories for activities such as travel, waiting, and administrative. When you have completed your log, ask these two questions in your analysis: “What would happen if I eliminated this activity?” and, “Who else could do this for me?” Time logs require self-discipline.


Once you have done this for a few days, it becomes a habit and is no longer perceived as an inconvenience. In fact, many people report that they enjoy doing it so they can see where their time is being used or misused.


MULTIPLYING YOUR EFFORTS The second thing effective sales- people do to become better self- managers is to actively seek ways to multiply themselves. Effective salespeople use the post office to their advantage. They personally in- vest in direct-mail pieces. They send literature, form letters, thank-you notes, journal articles, newsletters, or anything else that will keep their names in front of the customer. Effective salespeople also multiply themselves by seeking ways to use the telephone. Follow-up, arranging for appointments, pre-call qualifying, and canvassing are just a few of the ways effective salespeople uses the phone to repeat their presence. Referral selling – enlisting the aid of other people – is another valuable idea for multiplying oneself. The prin- ciple is simple: Get others to do some of your work for you. Referral selling is very effective because the customer qualifies the prospect for you. The single most effective way to multiply your efforts is to develop the mindset that trading your money for more time is a bargain at any price! Always be willing to invest money to gain time. Money is a replaceable commodity; time is not.


MAKING YOUR PLANS The third thing effective salespeople do to become better self-managers is to plan. If it sounds simple, it is. Effective salespeople begin planning by outlining their goals or aspira-


VIDEO: ARE YOUR SALESPEOPLE ALIGNED WITH YOUR SALES STRATEGY?


tions. Then they develop a plan to achieve these. The effective salesperson couples dogged persistence with clear vi- sion of the goal to achieve more. The ineffective salesperson loses sight of the goal because he or she has become too immersed in the mechanics of achieving the goal. This is demonstrated by salespeople who are more concerned with the number of sales calls they make than


SELLING TIP The Dotted Line – Actions Speak Louder Than Words


The industrial manufacturing company I represent is located in New Eng- land, but our prospects are scattered throughout the country. On a call to a contractor in Arlington, TX, I was disappointed to learn that my contact wasn’t ready to make a purchase.


During the course of our conversation, however, he asked me what I knew about a resort town in a neighboring state. I shared with him what little information I had about the place, then afterward called the Chamber of Commerce and asked that brochures about the area be sent to me. Once I received the brochures, I wrote a brief note thanking my prospect for his time and telling him that I’d run across the enclosed brochures and hoped he could use them when planning his next vacation. The very next week, my prospect was ready to buy! I’d like to think my selling skill or quality product changed his mind, but I know my willingness to help him out despite the fact that he hadn’t bought from me played a part. Sometimes you have to prove to your prospects that you’re willing to go the extra mile before they sign on the dotted line. – ALANA MALLAT


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the number of sales they make. Other ways in which the effective salesperson plans include: setting call objectives; establishing quarterly and annual itineraries; setting priori- ties based on payoff vs. urgency; and targeting his or her markets. Targeting your market and investing the major- ity of your selling time with potentially high-return accounts is the quickest way to ensure sales effectiveness. It is true that time is money. 


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