Are You Prioritizing Your Sales Opportunities for Maximum Impact?
Can we all agree that “time and effort” do not always equal “results”? You can go 10 grueling rounds and still lose the fight.
So, if time and effort alone do not guarantee results, then how do the most effective salespeople manage their priorities?
When we approach this topic from a perspective of time management we tend to see the clock as a taskmaster that works against our own productive interests.
When we change our paradigm to opportunity management we can focus instead on pure impact. “What can I do right now that will have the greatest impact on my success”? This mindset marks the difference between two divergent economic perspectives:
Perspective #1: Time and Effort Economy
In the Time and Effort world, you log long hours and work your tail off. You hit your desk at 7:30. You work through lunch. You have a full outbox and a long list of tasks checked off your to-do list.
All good, right? I mean, you worked hard all day and you certainly feel tired.
Maybe you even complained about your workload at the water cooler for a while and updated Facebook with a post that read, “I just don’t believe I can work any harder than I am working today. #Exhausted.”
If you can relate to that scenario, then let me ask you one question: What mattered? What percentage of your work made a lasting difference in your life, in the well being of your customer, or in the success of your company?
The fact is that you can log a whole lot of hours with very little impact.
Perspective #2: Results Economy
In a Results Economy, time and effort are mere statistics. The focus instead is on impact. It all comes down to the degree of impact we make, regardless of time spent.
Compare for a moment the best sale you ever made with the worst. The best sale was likely the one with the highest impact and the lowest amount of time spent.
Moreover, the time you did spend was pleasant and productive. Your worst sale likely gobbled up hours upon miserable hours.
Take a good look at the opportunities in front of you right now. Rate that list according to impact. What action will bring the greatest potential return? What item on that list will really matter?
Did you identify the task? Great. Do that first. Now. Right now.
Then sit back and enjoy the rewards of the results-based economy.
It takes less time and effort to change the world than you might think.
