Busy, Busy, Busy

The best account managers are busy. Average account managers are busy and below-average account managers are busy. Who isn't busy?

That being said, it's easy to be busy doing things that do nothing for your business. Tim Rohrer recently discussed in his blog the difference between busy-productive and busy-unproductive.

Rohrer says there are only two right things to be busy doing:

1. The actions that get one closer to making a sale
2. The actions that ensure the success of a sale already made

That's it! Here's a story from Rohrer to help you make sure you're only doing these two things.

"The other day, an account manager pointed out to me that she had sent an email to a client with an interesting article attached. The article was relevant to the customer's business and sending it was a good idea," says Rohrer. "But does her action fall into Category #1?"

"Her action should have fallen into Category #1 as she was trying to get closer to making a sale. But, based on the content of her e-mail, I can promise you that she didn't get closer to making a sale because she didn't ask the customer to take any action. Her email said something like this:

"I saw this article and thought of you."

"Coincidentally, another account manager also copied me on an email he sent to a customer with an article attached. His email said something like this:

"Did you see this article (attached)? Let's get together and brainstorm ways to make this work for your business. We always come up with great ideas and I am sure that we can do it again!"

"Two busy account managers. One productive account manager," says Rohrer.

This outline from Rohrer should help you see the difference between busy and productive:

1. The actions that get one closer to making a sale

a. Prospecting
i. Research to identify prospects
ii. Research to identify industry trends
iii. Contacting prospects with valid business reasons to convince them to spend time with you.

b. Qualifying
i. Determining if the prospect has enough money to purchase your products through research
ii. Determining if the prospect has enough money by meeting with them

c. Presenting
i. Sending presentations that ask for an investment
ii. Delivering presentations face-to-face that ask for an investment

"Being busy is not the goal of any seller who counts on revenue production to earn commissions. Being productive is the goal," says Rohrer. "Let's examine our behaviors and get a little busier being productive."

Tim J.M. Rohrer is a recognized leader in sales and sales management. He writes about his experiences in advertising sales on his blog at http://www.salesandmarketingloudmouth.com. Currently employed as a Sales Manager at Radio One in Atlanta, he can be reached through e-mail at timrohrer@comcast.net.