277: The Salesperson's Time, Treasure and Talent

<p>Sales is such a rollercoaster.  You have a good month or a good quarter then you hit a wall.  Clients change their mind, something happens to the supply chain beyond your control and the order get cancelled.  You usually cannot control the quality of the solution being delivered and someone else in the organisation doesn’t do their job professionally enough and you suffer.  We do have total control though over our time, talent and treasure.  Are we making the most of this control?</p> <p> </p> <p>Time is the most expensive asset for any salesperson.  Where you spend your time determines everything.  I deal with many different suppliers and potential suppliers as a client.  I notice that very few firms are good at follow-up.  We know that finding a new client is vastly more expensive and difficult that extending the purchase profile of an existing client.  We also know that most salespeople give up after three rejections when cold calling.  Given we know all of this, you would think that a good portion of a salesperson’s time would be allocated to keeping in touch with buyers.  Trying to stay top of mind with a buyer takes a lot of effort and time, but if your competitor isn’t doing it, then you are more likely to win.</p> <p> </p> <p>I am going to translate my book Japan Presentations Mastery into Japanese.  The firm I have chosen is a good example of sustained follow-up.  They met me at a networking event a couple of years ago, but have kept in touch.  They are top of mind.  I am busy, so it is an easy decision to use them, because I know them already and I don’t have to run around trying  to drink from the firehose of all possible translation service providers.  We know our clients are always time poor, so this is the type of mental equation they are applying too, so we need to make the decision as easy as possible for them.  The time they have invested in me is going to mean a deal for them that others won’t get. </p> <p> </p> <p>What are we doing with our time?  Do we have good systems of follow-up, can we