work smart: time management tips for sales professionals presenter: stephanie sperry – senior...
TRANSCRIPT
Work Smart: Time Management Tips for Sales Professionals
Presenter: Stephanie Sperry – Senior Marketing Manager,
Merchant Warehouse
About Merchant Warehouse
• Established in 1998• Based in Boston, MA• Over 80,000 active merchants• 200+ employees• Award winning:– Three-time recipient of the Boston Business Journal
Pacesetter Award– 100 Best’s 2010 Merchant Account Provider of the Year– First ISO to receive - ETA ISO of the Year
Talking Points
• Barriers that keep you from managing time effectively
• What’s Important versus what’s urgent• Prioritizing and setting goals to keep the sales funnel
flowing• Using software and planners• Tackling daily activities with a systematic approach
Common Barriers
• Inability to say ‘no’• Interruptions• Stress/ Feeling overwhelmed• Procrastination• Lack of prioritizing• Spending too much time talking• Doing what we ‘like’ to do before what we
‘need’ to do
Overcoming barriers
• Learn to say no!– If you can’t – set realistic expectations
• Reduce Interruptions– Limit social time to breaks– Set up a separate working space – Check email at intervals throughout the day– If an email is urgent, flag it for when your done with your current task
• Don’t get overwhelmed– Take breaks – Practice some stress relieving activities– Create a priority list– Create a list over a course of few days, not just one master
Sample list
• Urgent:– Finish presentation– Get ipads shipped out– Order promo items
• Important:– Plan ad schedule– Figure out budget– Newsletter
• Next week:– Work with intern on conference – Focus on Saleforce initiatives
Overcoming barriers
• Avoid procrastination– Set goals and deadlines– Do a little at a time
• Prioritize– Put things into buckets, create lists
• Talk less, think more– Is this prospect worth trying to sell for two hours?– What ROI am I really going to get out of this?
• Remember you wear many hats– Don’t just focus on what you like to do– Focus on growing your business and learning about all aspects of
growing a business
Important versus Urgent
What’s important versus urgent
• Urgent: Time sensitive or ‘putting out fire’ problems– Dealing with a customer issue – Getting a merchant account set up – Meeting with a customer
• Important: Revolve around strategy and planning– Checking in with customers – Customer relations– Managing your finances– Marketing your business– Getting referrals– Prospecting– Education– Taking a vacation
Managing the urgent
• Delegate• Get things down on paper• Stop, Think, Act: – Stop for a second to make sure it’s urgent– Think about the source – rank it’s urgency– Then act quickly without dwelling too long on it
• If you’re in the middle of an ‘important project’ - Use sticky notes to remind yourself of an issue you need to resolve that day
Get Sally’s terminal programmed!
Managing the important
• Schedule time each day for the important activities• Prioritize – Write things down• Keep a list by day and by week• Set weekly goals on what important tasks you want
to complete• Use tools to set reminders• Don’t forget to take time for yourself
Figure out what’s important and focus on that!
Prioritizing and setting goals
• Think about your ROI – What’s going to give you a return on the time you put into something? – Option 1 – Spend all day on a postcard campaign– Option 2 – Spending your day getting referrals and visiting customers
• Set aside time each day to:– Call prospects and customers– Focus on important activities such as:
• Marketing• Processing paper• Mining new sales opportunities• Preventing attrition
Prioritizing and setting goals
• Setting sales goals:– Set daily, weekly monthly goals and keep track of
your accomplishments– Reward yourself for meeting goals
• Setting other goals:– I’ll attend 2 trainings every week– I will get xx referrals this month
Some Tips from a Successful Agent
• Set aside time for:– Learning the business– Making appointments– Admin work – service calls, app process, follow up and
deployment– Marketing and short and long term planning – Network,
branch out
• Practice closing techniques to minimize the sales process
• Think about partnering with someone that will compliment your abilities
Some Tips from a Successful Agent
• Don’t forget to pay attention to taxes• Have some short term goals like writing 10
accounts each month, 100 in a year.• Be patient: Residual income is magical, but it
takes time to grow• Be comfortable with making mistakes and
learning from them as you go• Consider hiring help – cold calling
Using software and planners
• CRM – Salesforce (contact manager - $5/month)• Microsoft Office (including outlook - $200)• Quickbooks ($140)
• Daily planner – 5 day planner• Sticky notes
Tackling daily activities
• Use a CRM system to set reminders for prospect calls and customer calls– Every xx month for a current customer– Every xx week for a prospect until they become a dead
lead
• Have a task list in outlook to manage important tasks• Use reminders or sticky notes for URGENT matters
Agent & ISO Program Benefits
• The security of a financially sound ISO• Generous bonuses and benefits• Uniquely fair agent contract• Innovative technology• In-house/dedicated customer and technical support• Guaranteed lifetime residuals• Marketing support• In-depth sales training• Online tools and resources
Coming soon – Cost analysis tool and CB App Express!
Questions?
For questions regarding this presentation, please contact StephanieSperry @ [email protected]
If you are interested in becoming an independent sales agentfor Merchant Warehouse, please contact Doug Small @617-896-5590 x 2535 or [email protected]