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The longer I am involved in sales the more I come to believe that one of the most important skills is time management. Yes, boring old time management. Not the “gift of the gab”, not being a “people person”, time management.
It’s coming up again this week. Both for me, my clients, and my colleagues. I have noticed we are all faced with a similar challenge: preparing for key sales meetings on important pipeline opportunities. And I notice we are all spending a lot of time preparing.
In fact in some cases we are spending so much time that nearly everything else has stopped!
I think as sales people, sales managers or entrepreneurs we need to think about this carefully for a moment. Nearly everything else has stopped! This is serious business. All the other projects (and opportunities) we could work on are receiving almost no attention.
I have written several times about the importance of preparation for sales meetings. I believe this to be totally valid. If you do not prepare, you will not win (or only by blind luck). But here’s the flip-side: good preparation takes a lot of time.
So be very careful which opportunities you choose to pursue. Make sure they really fit for you and company. You will spend a lot of time preparing for sales meetings and you will inevitably forgo other projects and opportunities. Make a wise selection and don’t fall into the trap of trying to take on everything that comes your way.
Too many “hot prospects” will quickly burn all your time.
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