Expanding the 1 p.m. Appointment

“Ugh,” my client groaned. “I have a 1 p.m. appointment with a client and it’s an hour away. That’s going to kill my whole day.”

I, being the consummate professional couldn’t help myself: I burst out laughing.

Early in my sales career, I would routinely put 35,000 miles a year on my car without ever leaving a 30-mile radius of Boston. Entire days were spent on the road going from meeting to graphic designer to meeting to graphic designer to meeting. I didn’t know enough to complain, I guess. That was the job.

Today, we spend so much of our time on the phone or on Zoom calls with customers, I guess an out-of-office meeting is rare enough that it could sabotage your entire day.

When I gathered myself, I offered up some ideas to maximize her time:

• See if you can get a second appointment in the area, or…
• Call anyone you've been prospecting nearby and see if you can stop by, or…
• Visit existing customers, or…
• If you must, cold call.

In addition, think about how best to use the windshield time to and from the appointment:

• Call some existing customers to check in, or…
• Use the time for personal business, or…
• Pop in a Tony Robbins CD, or…
• Just chill.

It would be a crime to drive to that appointment, meet with a client, and drive back. For the sake of sales productivity, we must do a better job of planning.

And to be honest, I'm still laughing.

It’s ideas like this that make up The Sales Vault. Visit SalesVault.pro or call Bill Farquharson at 781-934-7036.