Summit Group International
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Management & Sales Training Newsletter
“Manage Your Time or Someone Else Will”
Regardless of who you work for or what you do, your time is simply that…yours. You chose your profession and you chose the company you work for and therefore you chose where you spend your time. You are simply contracting your time to accomplish a certain goal for the organization that pays you. Ultimately, you will either learn to manage your time or someone else will be paid to do that for you. Studies show us that the top 5% of income earners are excellent at self-managing their time.
The key to managing your time effectively is to understand the definition of time management. What is the definition of time management? The planning and organizing of your time so that you accomplish your most important goals in the least amount of time possible. And what is the goal of a business or more particularly your business? Although most would say making money, I have come to believe differently. Money is simply the by-product of the goal of a business. The goal of a business is to create and keep customers! So the true definition of time management is the planning and organizing of your time so that you create and keep customers in the least amount of time possible.
How do you create and keep customers? You must contact them and you must protect your time each and every day to do this. Refuse to spend your day simply reacting to things. Successful people are proactive rather than reactive. If you are continuously reacting to things, you’re letting others control your time. And isn’t it true that your customers that take up most of your time are usually your worst customers! These are the customers that complain about everything, never refer you to anyone else, and are constantly trying to beat you up on your price, fees or commission.
Having all your incoming calls blocked for a specific period of time when contacting your prospects and customers is a great way to stay focused on your most important tasks. You can turn off the phone or have all calls go into voicemail with a message stating specific times that you’ll be phoning back. When you don’t reach a person and must leave your own voice mail you can leave specific times that you’ll make yourself available for call-backs. You may also want to hang up a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the wall of your cubicle or on your office door so that associates know not to bother you during your outbound call time.
Do you ever have to deal with time wasters at your store or office? Well, when dealing with time wasters or people in your work environment who always want to talk about anything other than the business at hand, here’s a technique to handle them…When someone enters your office space and begins talking for several minutes, simply stand up during the conversation and say, “Just one thing before you go…” and then lead them out of the office or cubicle and head off toward the copier, mailbox, washroom, etc. Another way to handle office chatter is to say, “I really must get this done, why don’t we schedule another time to chat.” This is such a great technique…why? Because time wasters never want to schedule anything! Another diplomatic method to excuse you from an unproductive conversation is to say, “Well, I guess I should get back to work.”
Accountability is the key to success in anything in life. Why? When you know others are looking you do a better job. For instance, if you were told that you would be asked questions about this newsletter you’re reading and graded on your answers, would you read through it more carefully? Of course you would! And the same is true with your goals. Therefore to hold yourself more accountable, a good idea is to tell others when your deadlines are. Tell you family, co-workers, managers, etc. One word of caution is to only tell those who you believe will be supportive. Practice reciprocation and offer to do the same for others. Have supportive co-workers tell you about their goals and deadlines.
Another good technique to motivate yourself toward excellent time management is to reward the completion of small tasks. For instance, if you’re making prospecting or follow up calls, get a soda or take a coffee break for 5 minutes every ten calls you make. You might also reward yourself by working a crossword for a short time, going for a short walk or reading a book for a few minutes. It should be something small that you enjoy. These ongoing rewards will help you focus for smaller blocks of time to do what must be done to reach your goals more quickly.
