Mastering Time Management in Sales
One of the most critical factors for sales success is effective time management. There's never enough time in the day, but how salespeople choose to spend their time ultimately determines their success.
Prioritizing Revenue-Impacting Activities
To optimize your time as a salesperson, focus on activities that have the biggest impact on your revenue. This can be challenging because daily tasks range from urgent client requests to long-term prospecting efforts. You must decide what to delegate, automate, handle yourself, how much time to spend on each task, and when to do it.
Proactive vs. Reactive Work
Sales is unique because it's predominantly proactive. No one tells you what to do each day, which offers both freedom and responsibility. This autonomy allows for creativity in driving revenue but can also be mentally exhausting. The constant need to make proactive decisions can catch up with you, making it crucial to develop effective time management strategies.
My Time Management Principles
Over the past eight years, I've developed principles and best practices for optimizing my time, delivering strong results.
Beat the Whistle: Start your day early, ahead of clients and support teams. Use this time for proactive work before urgent tasks arise.
Prioritize High-Impact Activities: Focus on tasks that bring in the most revenue. I start my day with outstanding opportunities with the best chance of closing. Mornings, when I'm sharpest, are reserved for the most important or challenging tasks.
Daily To-Do Lists: I create a new "To-Do" list every day, often multiple times a day, listing tasks in order of importance and urgency. I check off completed tasks and prepare the next day's list before the end of the day to ensure nothing slips through the cracks.
Client-Facing Activities: Reserve key work hours for client-facing, revenue-generating activities. Internal work is scheduled for less critical times, such as Friday afternoons or weekends. Minimize internal meetings unless necessary, giving more time for proactive work.
Dedicated Prospecting Time: Prospecting may not seem time-sensitive, but it's crucial to maintain a healthy pipeline. Treat prospecting as if you are in a client meeting, avoiding distractions. Jeb Blount calls this the "golden hours" in his book, Fanatical Prospecting. Discipline is key.
Efficient Prospecting: Reach the right person at the right time by casting a wide net. Delegate lower-tier prospects to your BDR or automated outreach tools. Personalize outreach for high-potential leads. Draft prospecting emails at the end of the day and schedule them for early morning.
Leverage AI: Use AI for summarizing articles, research, and quick information gathering. Double-check when necessary, but this can be a huge time saver. Personally type anything that should come directly from you. Automate busy work to increase efficiency.
Clear Roles and Responsibilities: Ensure a clear split of roles between you and your support team. Empower your support team and make clients aware of their capabilities. This allows you to focus on new business and partnerships.
Learn More
I delve deeper into time management and other sales strategies in my upcoming book, The B2B Sales Playbook: A Proven Guide for Closing SaaS Deals, coming out this Fall. Sign up for the waitlist on my website, www.AndrewBarbuto.com, and reserve my Meeting Hack on "How to Secure Next Steps in 5 Minutes." Check out my YouTube channel, YouTube.com/@AndrewBarbuto, for more best practices on various parts of the sales cycle.
Hope this was helpful, and remember, if you’re not helping, you’re not selling!
