Where Does the Time Go?

Today sales trainer Tom Reilly shares how a return to some old-fashioned selling may just be your best bet.

Salespeople spend most of their time on non-revenue producing activities. Really?

A recent study found that salespeople spend more than 70% of their time doing things other than selling. Our research found that salespeople spend, at most, 30% of their time in face-to-face selling. The rest of the time is spent handling administrative tasks, making collections calls, resolving logistics issues, attending meetings, and filling out reports.

How can we call these folks “salespeople” anymore when less than half of their time is spent selling? Maybe we should call them "support account administrators who occasionally sell." Who is at fault--salespeople or management? Finger pointing does not really accomplish much other than scapegoating the blame.

It confounds me when salespeople tell me that they cannot make more face-to-face calls. Why not? Do buyers perceive little value in the meeting? Do managers require salespeople to yield to administrative distractions? Is traffic that bad?

I grew up in a sales culture where we were required to make eight face-to-face sales calls per day. If we were in the office between 8 AM and 5 PM, our bosses assumed we were goofing off, and we probably were. Sales managers scrutinized our phone credit card statements to make sure we did not spend the day doing phone work versus face-to-face selling. We did paperwork at night or on Saturday morning. If it sounds a bit Draconian, it was not. We were salespeople after all, not office people. I learned a work ethic that helped me start and run two successful businesses, and I am eternally grateful for the lesson. Maybe it is time for some old-school selling rules again.

Tom Reilly is the president of Tom Reilly Training. He is an authority on value-added selling, and speaks to thousands of salespeople and managers annually on increasing their value to their company and customers.

SalesDog Quick Tip

Sales trainer Lori Richardson has a sales blog on AllBusiness.com that I highly recommend - it's well written and her posts are always content-rich. She recently wrote a "Sales Prospecting Tip Sheet" to help make your prospecting a success. Here are a few of her tips:

• DIVERSIFY - Mix up how you contact your more probable prospects. Call early in the day, call at 5pm.
• BE CONSISTENT - You must set regular time slots in your calendar to do this! Once you set the times, honor your commitment to yourself and to growing your business.
• GET FEEDBACK - Ask trusted advisors to let you "call them" with an introductory call. Find out how you can tighten what you say - especially in voice mail messages which are nearly always way too long.
• SEPARATE research time, calling time, and updating time. Work like a machine - create a smooth process so that you do research at a different time, and you are able to crank through calls and email messages.

A consummate student of learning, Lori immersed herself in "how to" books, strategies, and professional development programs from an early age. She's walked on hot coals, watched and studied masters in diverse fields, and sold "in the trenches" - on straight commission - and otherwise - for more than 30 years. Visit Lori's website at www.scoremoresales.com.