Many choose to “throw themselves into sales” thinking that it is the simplest and least tortuous way to achieve professional success, and yet few really achieve that success. Because? Simply because a proven method and a lot of self-denial mark the difference between improvised and professional . The approach to work is the first and most important secret in the world of work, and the field of sales is no exception: the drive to look for alternative solutions, the ability to optimize times and conclude more contracts, the desire to constantly improve, the desire to get involved are all essential values for anyone who aspires to make progress in such a competitive sector. If you have the right approachand you see the goal clearly, follow these tips and you will see your productivity grow steadily.
# 1 PLAN EVERY DAY AND CREATE YOUR ROUTINE
The difference between success and failure is very simple: it doesn’t matter if you work hard if you don’t work well . Knowing how to organize time and work flows throughout the day is a fundamental condition for learning to manage one’s energies in an intelligent way . Having a detailed plan of the practices to be carried out , a list of all the meetings and appointments with clients or the meetings that you will have to sustain during the day is a habit that, once taken, will drastically simplify your work . Having a basic outline of the objectives you will have to complete will allow you to face even any unexpected events more coldly.Create a routine, because to work hard you have to know how to work smart!
# 2 ALWAYS KEEP YOUR CORPORATE DASHBOARDS AT HAND
Accessing your sales performance, business trends, team results or customer data is absolutely essential. Setting up a personal dashboard capable of providing you in real time with everything you need can really turn your day, significantly increasing your sales and expanding your customer network. A continuously updated dashboard allows you to make the best decisions in the shortest possible time, gives you the information you need to seize opportunities on the fly, helps you choose which activities deserve top priority and, finally, is a great wayshow your bosses the goals you have achieved and the objectives you intend to achieve (avoiding the waste of time that comes from having to continuously send reports and programs).
# 3 WORK IN MOBILITY
Every salesman knows perfectly well that his is a “nomadic” job, made up of constant movements , presentations, appointments and meetings: the office is everywhere . And this is why it is essential to develop an above-average organizational capacity , a particular skill in knowing how to operate on the move by providing all the necessary tools to deal with practices, show products to possible buyers, present the targets or results obtained to already acquired partners. Learn to configure your smartphone, your tablet and / or your computer in such a way as to have under control everything you may need at any time, save important documents or pages that you can also consult offlinein order not to run the risk of finding yourself disconnected, use SIM cards from different providers to always have the field available. Your performances will undergo incredible acceleration.
# 4 SLEEP WELL AND EXERCISE
Following a healthy and regular lifestyle is obviously an essential rule to be successful in your work. Establishing a balanced cycle between hours of sleep and wakefulness is as fundamental as eating well and knowing how to enjoy your free time. Sleeping six and a half hours, seven hours every night is necessary (as well as sufficient) to face the day with the right amount of energy. Even the ‘ exercise is very important, especially in the morning, helps the psychophysical awakening, activates your metabolism and allows you to stay focused more easily throughout the day. Try doing some training at home before getting ready to go out, go to the gym, cycle to work, or if that’s not possible, walk as much as you can.
# 5 THE RIGHT BREAKS IN THE RIGHT MOMENTS
It is almost impossible to maintain a high concentration for hours and hours. Many believe that by never stopping, avoiding breaks to take advantage of all the hours of the day, they will reach their goals faster. Unfortunately this is not the case: the concentration disappears almost completely after an hour, an hour and a half at the most . At this point our mind focuses on the wrong things , problems and mistakes, or begins to wander uncontrolled, taking any “pretext” to deviate from what you are doing. Never taking breaks reduces productivity as much as taking a “short break” every five minutes! Then, learn to distinguish the right breaks from constant distractions: recharging your energy is necessary to develop new ideas.
# 6 TO MAKE TIME… DON’T WASTE TIME!
Most salespeople spend only a third of their time on activities closely related to selling . If it seems impossible or paradoxical to you, try to reflect on all the little daily waste of time, on all those things that distract you from really important calls, emails or jobs. Not just unexpected calls, notifications or social networks, but also tools you use to work but spend more time on than you should. A good way to understand where you are lingering too much is to download one of the many applications that track the time spent on each individual activity you do on your phone or computer. This will allow you to decide what to spend more time on in the future and what to focus less on .
# 7 AUTOMATE AND SIMPLIFY ALL PROCESSES
Another thing that wastes a lot of time is paying too much attention to activities that you could make much faster or even could happen automatically. How many times do you start doing something that should take “at most five minutes” and eventually realize you’ve lost half an hour or an hour? Get used to saving articles to read them later, use keyboard shortcuts for words and phrases you use often, turn on automatic synchronization to always have what you need from the cloudor to update your social media profiles. Do you often receive emails that you are not interested in and to which you always reply in the same way? Take advantage of all those solutions that allow you to receive only the most important notifications or to respond in a certain way to superfluous or standardized ones. The more you learn how to automate such processes, the more time you will have to sell!
