I was speaking virtually to a group of salespeople recently and you could see their demeanor change as they came to this realization.
Like most companies, theirs looked to hire extroverts – the “High I’s” on the DISC assessment – that would be comfortable talking to new people. This can be a great strategy, but it comes with a potential problem.
That is, the people who like to talk to other people are usually the same people who really, really want everyone to like them.
In modern business, there is no shortage of people vying for our attention. We have bosses and co-workers, customers and suppliers, and so much more.
They’re calling us, leaving voicemails, sending text messages, tweets and direct messages, pings and dings on any number of social media platforms (that all of these salespeople are told they need to be on, right?).
Those who have a need to be liked feel a need to constantly reply to anyone and everyone who asks for a piece of their time. Because each individual response makes someone happy – thus making the responder happy.
But for salespeople, like the ones I was speaking to, there is one group of people who are not asking for their attention – prospects.
That’s when the salesperson said, “The only people who don’t want to hear from me are the people I’m paid to talk to.”
That’s why time management is such a big deal for salespeople. But it’s more than the ability to manage time. It’s the ability to get yourself to do the stuff you know you need to do but don’t want to.
That’s why author Nir Eyal, says that a better term for time management is pain management.
So, how do you manage your pain? It’s a process of knowing your goals, determining the highest value tasks to help you reach those goals and the using your calendar to prioritize those tasks.
It’s that simple.
And that hard.
It’s one of the things we do all through our process of working with companies as they go through our 4D Transformation Method. We help them prioritize their time so that they can spend it on the things that make their highest value contribution to the company.
But we spend the most time on it when we’re documenting the sales process and helping their sales team prospect for new business.
You can learn more about that fourth and final step in our process by watching this video:
If you are an owner-operator who wants to improve the results of your service-based business, I might be able to help you. Just take this short assessment and book a strategy session with me.
I’d love to help you stop avoiding your prospects and growing from the inside out.
Nathan Schock 