Four Keys To Improving Your Sales

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Sales and Networking

Kenneth Brown

June 9, 2008

We all have the same amount of time in a day. Some people just do more with it then others. How are you leveraging your time to get more accomplished?  The average person might judge her time based on the hours spent. However, an entrepreneur should analyze her day based on results, sales and new business. What is your time management system? Being in business is tough enough. How do you improve sales and business in a challenging economy?

Time management can be a critical issue for successful entrepreneurs. Time is a finite resource. You only have 24 hours in a day. You can’t turn back the clock. To be successful in business, you must become a good time manager. You can’t get back an hour or a minute and redo it.

Coaches will say, “Be a better time manager”. Other professionals will say become “more proactive and not reactive.” Productivity experts will encourage you to make a list of your priorities. But how can entrepreneurs become better time managers? They tell you what to do. But, how do you do it?  How practical is this advice.

Before you can become a better time manager, you must first understand your present situation. Once you understand your current situation, you will be able to improve your time manage skills. Until you know where you are, you will not know where you are going.

1. Know your business numbers.
How many leads do you have in your database?  What is your success rate for converting prospects into clients? What is your average sale? How many sales do you make every month? What is your average revenue each month? What is your monthly profit numbers? 

2. How much is a sale worth to you?
What is your average profit each year? If you take your average profit and divide it by your average work hours, what is your result?  For example, your profit is $500,000 and your average work hours are 2,000. Your average pay per hour is $250.

So the question every entrepreneur must ask herself, “Is what I’m doing right now the best use of my time? Will this activity directly produce a sale, new business or create more profit for the company? Or, will it earn you a big, six-figure contract?

Steven Covey says that if you concentrate on the “little stuff” (non-revenue generating activities), it will fill your daily time bucket and you will not have time to focus on the big stuff (revenue generating activities). Consequently, if you don’t focus on sales activity, your sales, revenue and profit will decline.

3. Analyze your current situation. 
•    What are your top weekly priorities? 
•    Look at your last week activity.
•    List all your activities.
•    Add up the number of hours for each activity? 
•    Examine your results.
•    How does your results compare with your priorities?

4. Adopt a business activity point system.
Commit to earning 100 points every week. That means you must earn 20 points a day. If you complete an appointment with a decision maker, you earn five points. Get a referral and you earn three points. Talk to a decision-maker and ask for an appointment. You earn one point. So, if you do not have any appointments, you must get seven referrals or call 20 decision makers. Or, you must achieve some combination of appointments, referrals and calls to decision makers.

This is practical advice. No mantras. No clichés. No spreadsheets. No customer relationship management system. No high-tech solution. Your focus is just on results.

Do you have any suggestions to help manage your time better? E-mail me with your ideas and I’l l include them in a future post, or jot them in the comments section below.

Kenneth Darryl Brown is president and CEO of E3C, a profit and business development company that specializes in profit success systems, leadership, sales, communication and technology. Brown shows companies how to maximize their sales and profits by implementing best practices for sales, networking and profitability.

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