2015 NHIA Annual Conference & Exposition Dynamic Handout Session 24-F Beat the Clock Part 1. Beat the Clock

Transcription

1 Beat the Clock Life Management for the Sales Professional Part I 1

2 What is Time Management? 1. Definition: Time management is. a. This means controlling the events of our time. b. This also means not allowing others to control our time. 2. Event Control means that we must: a. Take 100% of the responsibility for our time (activities). Taking Control of our time means a number of things: 1. Identifying the things that are wasting valuable selling time. 2. Eliminating time wasters from our daily activity. 3. Making a daily decision on what we ALLOW to control us and our time. 4. Determining how and where to invest our time. 5. Developing a daily, weekly and monthly sales plan. 2

3 b. Time cannot be redeemed or bought back. 1. Time is a ONE TIME event. 2. Once time is wasted or lost, it s gone forever! 3. In many ways, time is more valuable than money because unlike money, time cannot be recovered once lost. c. Determine what WE allow to derail us from our priorities. Let s Share Best Practices! List 5 steps you ve taken personally to gain control of your daily, weekly, and monthly activities?

4 Time Management Habits How They re Formed and How to Break Them How Are Poor Time Management Habits Formed? 1. By not fully comprehending the power of one hour. Example: If you make $75,000.00/year, one hour is worth $ If one hour/day is wasted, that equates to a financial loss of $9,350.00/year! GAP TIME = Small increments of time Don t Forget: Use GAP TIME, to stay productive. For example, if you have three, 10-minute gaps/day that equates to: 30-minutes/day 4

5 2.5 hours/week hours/month or over 1 day hours/year or days/year Examples of GAP TIME Usage: Updating your daily list of priorities Writing a thank you note to a customer Scanning s Developing a pre-call plan for your next appointment 2. By allowing others to control your time. Giving up control of your time can hinder your career growth. Others will try to control it. Exercise: How do others influence and prioritize your day? 3. By failing to write a Daily Plan. A Daily Plan keeps you on track. 5

6 A Daily Plan will keep you focused. 4. By failing to prioritize your activities. Exercise: Every task must be given a value. All tasks are not created equal. Start with the high-payoff activities first! - High-payoff activities are not always glamorous or enjoyable. - High-payoff activities are directly related to sales results. Determine whether the following tasks are LOW, MEDIUM, or HIGH on the priority scale: Solving a customer s problem LOW MEDIUM HIGH Completing an internal report LOW MEDIUM HIGH Contacting a new customer for an appointment LOW MEDIUM HIGH Responding to s LOW MEDIUM HIGH Calling in your order LOW MEDIUM HIGH Dropping off a sample to prospective customer LOW MEDIUM HIGH Changing the oil in your car LOW MEDIUM HIGH Writing a thank you card LOW MEDIUM HIGH 6

7 5. By allowing interruptions to dictate your schedule. Over 75% of all interruptions are untimely, unnecessary or unwarranted. Dictate what WE allow to interrupt us. 6. By allowing the tyranny of the urgent and fire fighting to feed your selfesteem. Shelve the urgent, unless it is vitally important to your mission. Vitally important tasks are rarely urgent. Don t Forget: Just because something screams, urgent, doesn t mean it s important. Vital Signs Checklist Pose These 3 Questions: Urgent Vital 7. By allowing technology to derail us. Beware of net surfing, Facebook, texting, and . Avoid being obsessed with constant communication; 90% of communication does not require your immediate attention. 7

8 Check In: How much time per day do you spend on correspondence: arbitrary net surfing: Facebook/LinkedIn: Text messages: voice mail: Total: minutes/day minutes/day minutes/day minutes/day minutes/day minutes/day Let s Share Best Practices! Before Your Day: 1. Write a Daily Plan each evening. (See Sample Daily Plan Options in Appendix & An Example of a Successful One ) 2. Prioritize each task on your Daily Plan. (A-Vital, B-Important, C-Low Value & D-Trivial) 3. Identify GAP Time Activities (See Sample GAP Time Activities in Appendix). Do not forget to factor in time for interruptions throughout the day. During Your Day: 4. Be aware of how others control your time (See Sample Communication Options for managing Internal/External Customers in Appendix) 5. Unless the interruption is customer-centered, reschedule the interruption to a more appropriate time. 6. Avoid jumping every time something URGENT comes up. Ask yourself, Is this vitally important or does it impact my vital A-priorities on the daily plan? 7. Maximize GAP Time. If you have a 12 minute wait, use those minutes productively. Every minute counts. Always have GAP Time activities you can engage in. 8. Unless work related, engage in net surfing and social networking outside of work hours. 8

9 At The End Of Your Day: 9. Re-visit your Daily Plan and evaluate the remaining items (if any) and determine where they fit with new emerging priorities. 10. Re-cap and De-Brief What went well? Where and when did the Daily Plan fall apart? Did I over or underestimate the length of time required for my priorities? How Do We Break Poor Time Management Habits? 1. Identify and dismantle your biggest time wasters. If you re unsure what your biggest time waster are, get a partner to help you do an assessment. Homework: For a minimum of 1 day, consider tracking your time. This powerful exercise will tell you, specifically, where you may be wasting time. 9

10 2. Make a quality decision to control and manage your own time. 3. Gain a clear understanding of the true monetary value of time. What is your hourly rate? Your 2010 Income Goal: $ 2078 Hourly Rate: $ /hour 4. What are the costs of maintaining poor time management habits? a. Hindering your upward career mobility. b. Limited income potential. c. Inability to achieve your goals and dreams. 5. Know which tasks produce the greatest return on the investment of your time. Don t Forget! 1. Track your time for one day/week to identify your time wasters. 2. Calculate your hourly rate so it can be top of mind! 3. Count the cost of maintaining poor time management habits. Let s Share Best Practices! Grade yourself using a ten point scale. Ten is the highest, one is the lowest. I fully understand the value of one hour:

11 I control my own time 100%: I write a daily plan every day: I prioritize my tasks daily: I have control over interruptions: I focus on what is vital, not urgent: I have technology under control: Grading System: Talley your scores = Going Great! = Pretty Good = Need Improvement = Below Average = Ouch! List your three lowest scores and write down one idea on how you can improve. 1. To improve in this area, I will: 2. To improve in this area, I will: 3. To improve in this area, I will: 11

12 Viewing Time as an Investment 12

13 Time is money. Benjamin Franklin 1. View your time like you would a financial investment. a. Your time investments, like your financial investments, should be placed in high-yield accounts. b. Like money, invest your time in tasks that produce consistent returns. 2. Invest your time systematically into high-return activities. Let s Share Best Practices! List 5 high-yield activities that produce the best return on the investment of your time and estimate the realistic required time for each activity?

14 Don t Forget: Most of your daily tasks should focus on these activities. How are we derailed from focusing on high-yield activities? What can we do to control these things? 14