Increasing Sales Productivity, Part 2

This is the second in a two-part sales tip designed to increase your sales productivity. If you have not read or watched the first one, you can catch up here. For the rest of you …

Your assignment from last week was to come up with four or five Profit Pillars. Judging from personal experience, I can attest to the fact that this is not particularly easy. I hope you took the time to not only do it but do it right. It’s okay to stop here and spend some time coming up with yours.

Of course, outgoing sales and marketing activities is not all you do during the day. If you are in business for yourself, like I am, there are things like accounting and administrative responsibilities. The next step is to make a list of those non-selling functions that you might do during any given day. Personally, I came up with four, those two plus Content Creation (writing blogs, tips, columns, etc.) and one other. Adding those together with my five profit pillars gave me a total of nine items. Nine different categories that describe my activities each day. I put a corresponding number, one through nine, next to each. Then, an idea hit me …

I have a pad of paper in a leather folder. On it, is a list of tasks and to-do items that I write down and then cross off as the days go on. But here’s the thing …

Not everything on that list needs or deserves to be done. In other words, not every task will get me closer to increasing my sales.

So, I decided to look at each to-do item and put a number next to it if it relates to one of my five profit pillars or four other activities. When I was done, of the 25 or so things on that list, only five had no direct connection to either. These were ideas that I had come up with, such as contacting an Association to try and see if I can create some sales training program for them. While that is a good idea, if it’s not one of my Profit Pillars, it has to go.

And with two hands gripping the pen, I crossed off those five tasks.

What remained was a list of activities, now hyper focused, that will better help me reach my goals. I am now set up for success, set up for improved sales productivity and more likely to manage my selling time wisely.

Ever since taking this action in late November, I have found each day to be more productive. In other words, I think it’s working.

This is my final sales tip for 2018. I highly recommend that you use some of your time in the next couple of weeks to think about this organization process, read the book Essentialism, and do everything you can to set yourself up for success in 2019.

I am grateful to you, my friends and clients (and some who I am lucky enough to call both) for your help in making this a highly successful year. By the time we reconnect the week of Jan. 8, 2019, I will be remarried, refocused, tanned, rested and ready to go in some new directions.

Happy holidays to you all.

I now have two books available on Amazon (3, if you count the second version of the first one)…

The 25 Best Print Sales Tips Ever!

NEW: Who’s Making Money at Digital/Inkjet Printing… And How?

Information on both is available at AspireFor.com. I can be reached at 781-934-7036 or bill@aspirefor.com