Get Organized If You Want To Sell More

“Face adversity promptly and without flinching, and you will reduce its impact.” Churchill Clutter. Technology. Stuff. A full plate. Sales reports. Personal interests. Home life. Career. Relatives. Friends. Too little time. Too much to do. Meetings, meetings and more meetings. The list goes on and on and on. You get 24 hours a day no more no less and time is totally insensitive to how you use the 24 hours you are given each day. One of the traits I have observed in successful salespeople is that they are really organized. Now don’t get me wrong here, if you can win sales awards every year with a cluttered desk â€" great, however how much more might you sell if you had an organized work space? Successful salespeople have the ability to handle a variety of tasks, problems, issues, responsibilities and challenges at the same time. I am talking here about personal management not multi-tasking. If you want to sell more every year you have to get better at something every year. If you spent just ten minutes at the beginning of each day and ten minutes at the end of each day, and don’t tell me you can’t find twenty minutes a day â€" I’ll bet you could make one more sale a week or a year obviously depending on what you sell and your sales cycle. But, the fact remains, organized people are generally more effective and productive. So why not ask yourself â€" could I be more or better organized in some are of my sales career? If so, what are you waiting for? What is getting in your way? And don’t tell me you don’t have the time. It’s not about getting more time but using the time you have more effectively. Here are a few ideas to consider. 1. Each day, week, month and year start with a plan of what you want to do. 2. Prioritize your goals, objectives, tasks, projects, whatever. 3. Stay focused. 4. Get rid of the clutter â€" wherever it is in your life. 5. Concentrate on one thing at a time. 6. Don’t stick with anything that you are not passionate about. Let it go. 7. Have routines for the regular tasks in your life. 8. Get up earlier. Go to be later. 9. Organize your workspace so that you can be more productive. 10. Learn to say no more often 11. Develop the habit of â€"Doing It Now. 12. Don’t make commitments you can’t keep. 13. Respect and value your own time. 14. Play when it is time to play and work when it is time to work. 15. Use technology as a tool not a crutch. 16. Throw stuff away you don’t need, use or want. 17. Use support staff if you have it more effectively. 18. Evaluate your time-wasting habits or routines. 19. Spend 30 minutes a day in some self-development activity. 20. Let go of your bad prospects. This list should give you a few things to think about. Tim Connor, CSP is an internationally renowned sales, management and leadership speaker, trainer and best selling author. Since 1981 he has given over 3500 presentations in 21 countries on a variety of sales, management, leadership and relationship topics. He is the best selling author of over 60 books including; Soft Sell, That’s Life, Peace Of Mind, 81 Challenges Managers Face and Your First Year In Sales. He is also the CEO of ProfessionalSales Association Of America. He can be reached at tim@timconnor.com 704-895-1230 or visit his websites at timconnor.com or ProfessionalSalesAssociationOfAmerica.com