Get it Together: Organizing Your Sales Approach

Goals

As a sales professional, you may feel "on the line" and in fact, you are. That's why you have to be organized. What better way to start than with clear goals that are challenging and attainable, specific and measurable, and highly satisfying to you and your company when you achieve them.

Productivity Tools

Contact management: Many contact management tools and applications offer an integrated approach to synch your appointments, calendar, e-mails, contacts, and accounts, so that all your data is easily within reach.

Task management: Many applications allow your contact management to be integrated with your task management. You can also classify your tasks so you can see how much time you are spending on key activities or accounts.

Process management: Similar to task management but at a higher level, you can use tools and technology to track your progress and illustrate where you are in your sales process, and where each of your customers are in their buying process.

Relationship management: This is all about networking – social, online, and face-to-face. As customers become more comfortable participating in dialogues online about products and services, savvy companies are looking for ways to become part of the conversation.

Resources

Intelligence: This is more than just your personal productivity tools – it is the intelligence you can derive from research, analytics, and the power of investigation. It is used and applied in all your sales efforts.

People: This includes tapping the talent and resources inside your company as well as your customers' organizations. Put your resources to work to meet your goals and provide your customers with the greatest value.

Self-management

Personal style: Understand your personal communication and work style. Recognize the types of distractions and events that cause you to go astray and become disorganized.

Motivations: Keep your energy and enthusiasm buoyed up and away from the dangers of de-motivation. When you know what drives you, you can target tasks or methods that harness your motivation and fuel your performance.

Strengths: Call upon your dominant strengths such as your amiable personality, your competitive drive, or your ability to solve problems.

Mindset: Consider your mindset about sales and adopt attitudes that are positive and energizing for yourself – and for others.

Overview/Description

The challenges you face are many. Information overload, competing priorities, complex sales cycles all stand as significant obstacles. If you want to reach your targets you have to leverage tools, time, and self-knowledge to your advantage. This Business Impact explores some of the ways you can go about organizing your sales approach.

Target Audience

Experienced sales professionals interested in improving their ability to organize their sales approach