Windshield Time –
When I began my seed selling career, I was put in charge of three states. It was just me, our dealers and customers.
The problem was, I didn’t have any dealers or customers.
I was the first employee of a brand new seed company so I was starting from zero in all three states. That obviously meant that I didn’t have any sales either.
As a result, I had to spend a lot of time on the road, behind the windshield of my pickup searching for buyers and sellers for our seed.
After all, my job description only had one line in it, sell seed.
So I spent a lot of time driving. I considered a sale of any size, anywhere in the three state areas to be an opportunity and a step forward, regardless of how inefficient the pursuit may have been.
I logged thousands and thousands of miles. In fact, the more miles I drove, the greater feeling of satisfaction I had that I had been working really hard.
But if I have any right at all to a disclaimer on this point it is that we had no cell phones, e-mail or even fax machines. The highest level of communication that was available to a road warrior was the telephone booth and some small towns didn’t even have one of those.
I didn’t even have a tape player in my pickup to listen to self-improvement tapes, at least until a few years later.
But it took me only one selling season to realize that my system of logging miles was getting me nowhere fast.
Even though my year ended with a very nice first year sales increase, I was worn out and so was my pickup.
Times Have Changed
Today things are so much different. At least they better be.
Due to the great advances in communication technologies available to our homes, offices and vehicles, we can now accomplish so much more as we drive across our sales territory because our customers have access to those same advances.
But those wonderful changes don’t release us from our responsibility of keeping the amount of geography we are responsible for to a manageable level. Regardless of the tools we have available to us, we must continue to ask ourselves if we are utilizing those tools to improve how we manage our time or if we are simply using them to entertain ourselves.
There are a number of ways you can make best use of the time management systems now available to you and the best use of your time.
Remember, time and money are synonyms. They are spelled differently but mean exactly the same thing.
After all, my job description only had one line in it, sell seed.
3 keys to increasing sales while you are behind the wheel:
1. Stay in touch with your customers as often as possible.
How do new buyers grow to become larger, more committed buyers the fastest?
Communication.
We spend more time communicating with larger customers, that is how they got to be large in the first place. Communicate with all of your buyers more often and they will return the favor by purchasing more of your products.
There is no better time to catch up on all communications with current buyers than during your drive time. Be sure to do it safely however, by using a hands free device.
2. Prepare and plan your next sales calls faster and more efficiently.
This does not mean e-mailing or texting while driving.
It does mean planning ahead, way before you even get into your vehicle. Set your email system to send emails to prospects and customers, automatically, while you are not even near your computer.
Their responses will come back to you while your are traveling. If you decide to set an appointment while traveling, pull off the road to dial to set up the communication.
3. Make your drive time a special time for personal growth.
Use your CD player or iPod as your “Hour of Power” or “Half Hour of Power”.
Whatever length of time you choose, commit yourself to preparing and training while driving and listening to self-help programs.
It will help you keep the right attitude, give you ideas on how to better achieve your goals or simply prepare you for your next customer contact.
On that note, as part of our mission to continue to provide sales reps with tools and resources to help them improve, we are excited to launch our first, of many new, audio training programs you can listen to as you drive throughout your sales territory.
Check out our brand new audio programs available to make sure you have a solid plan in place for the Planting & Harvesting Seasons! Click here to learn more.
In addition, take advantage of all of the modern day technologies and communication tools available to you. Don’t operate your territory as inefficiently as I did.
At least back then, I had access to a lot more farmers. Today, you have no choice but to manage your time to the max.
Happy Selling,
Rod