4-15-2013
Seems like we are all asked to do more in less time these days, doesn?t it?
Most people view time management as getting more done in less time. I have a different view.
It?s about prioritizing sales tasks based on those that will have the greatest impact on your sales goals and having the courage to minimize or unload unproductive tasks.
I would argue the most productive tasks for a radio AE are cultivating new leads, educating themselves about the latest marketing trends, researching the needs of their clients, developing cases studies of their past success, meeting with prospects, creating proposals, and managing the execution of the campaigns they have sold.
Much of an AE?s time is often wasted on endless internal meetings, compulsively checking email, chasing after unprofitable clients, managing creative production and watercooler talk in the office. AEs don?t have control over all of these tasks, but many of them they do.
Every so often, every radio sales manager and AE needs to assess his or her productivity using the 80/20 Rule. Identify the tasks and clients that take less than 20 percent of your time, but generate 80 percent of your revenue. Then take a look at the tasks that take 80 percent of your time, but represent less than 20 percent of your revenue. Those are the tasks you need to reduce or eliminate.
To get started you?ll need a baseline to identify your most unproductive time periods, tasks, and clients. How you think you spend your time is often very different from how you actually spend it. Here are some time management tools to help start tracking the productivity of your time.
1. toggl.com
Most time tracking tools are overly complicated to use, but toggl is a snap and it?s free! It?s perfectly designed to quantify the amount of time you spend on your own unique tasks. You can track the time you spend on individual clients, projects, and tasks. Don?t try to track every little thing you do. It?s too overwhelming. Start tracking tasks that take at least 10 minutes to perform.
Toggl enables you to track how you spend your time from your mobile device or your desktop. Just click the big red toggle button at the beginning and end of each task. It generates reports that visualize how you use your time. You?ll easily be able to identify your biggest time-sucks. Unfortunately, toggl can?t help you figure out how to make those tasks more efficient. That?s up to you!
2. RescueTime.com
RescueTime automatically tracks how you spend your time sitting in front of the computer. Unlike toggle, it only tracks your computer usage -- like which applications, documents, and websites you use. Toggl enables you to track all of your tasks both online and offline.
The huge benefit RescueTime has over toggl is that it tracks your time in front of the computer automatically. Whereas when you use toggl, you have to remember to start and stop the toggl timer for each one of your tasks.
3. getchronos.com
If you really want to automate how you track your time, then chronos might be worth your consideration. It?s a fairly new mobile app that tracks where you spend your time and who you spend your time with. It tracks when you are at the office, at lunch, at the gym, socializing with friends and even when you sleep!
Unlike toggl, it doesn?t get into the nitty gritty of tracking your work tasks. It will only provide you with a snapshot of how much time you spend with your clients and which ones take up most of your time.
If your day is currently organized by determining which fire to put out first, I think you might want to give one of the above time tracking tools a try. You can reduce your stress, better serve your clients and make more money by understanding how productively you use your time.
Stephen Warley is the founder of inboundarts.com, a research and training firm dedicated to helping radio broadcasters use digital tools to generate more qualified sales leads. He is also the founded of LocalBroadcastSales.com in 2008. Have a question for Stephen? Email him at stephen@inboundarts.com or connect with him on LinkedIn.
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