According to Alan Lakein, author of How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life, the most important aspect of time management is knowing what your goals are. He is referring to all goals—career goals, family goals, and life goals. People who cannot or do not sit down and write out exactly what they want from life lack direction. Brian Tracy, who developed the “Law of Direction,” says, “Your ability to set clear, specific goals will do more to guarantee you higher levels of success and achievement than any other single skill or quality.”10

The goal-setting process requires that you be clear about what you want to accomplish. If your goal is too general or vague, progress toward achieving that goal is difficult to observe. Goals such as “I want to be a success” or “I desire good health” are much too general. The major principles that encompass goal setting are outlined in Table 16.1.

Goals have a great deal of psychological value to people in selling. Sales goals, for example, can serve as a strong motivational force. To illustrate, let us assume that Maria Paulson, sales representative for a cosmetics manufacturer, decides to increase her sales by 15 percent over the previous year. She now has a clear goal to aim for and can begin identifying specific steps to achieve the new goal.

Maria Paulson has established a long-term goal as part of a yearly plan. Some goals require considerable time and should be part of a one-year plan. Next, Maria should set aside an hour or so at the end of each month to decide what she wants to accomplish during the coming month. Weekly planning is also important. Once a week—Friday is a good time—set goals for the next week and develop a plan for reaching them. Finally, Maria should develop a daily plan.11

Sales professionals who complete the time management course offered by Franklin Covey are encouraged to engage in event control. This involves planning and prioritizing events every day.12 Start each day by thinking about what you want to accomplish. Then write down the activities (Figure 16.1). Putting your thoughts on paper (or in your computer) forces you to clarify your thinking. Heather Gardner, a regional director with the Chicago investment firm William Blair & Company, records her daily planned activities in her BlackBerry and Microsoft Outlook calendar. On a typical day, the BlackBerry will show entries for every half hour. Gardner works through her detailed “to do” list by adhering to one unshakable rule: Avoid nonpaying activities during working hours.13

Now you should prioritize your “to do” list and do not let outside distractions interfere with your plan. Begin each day with the highest-priority task.

Ideally, a salesperson needs a single place to record daily appointments (personal and business), deadlines, and tasks. Unfortunately, many salespeople write daily tasks on any slip of paper they can find—backs of envelopes, three-by-five cards, napkins, or Post-it notes. Hyrum W. Smith, author of The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life Management, calls these pieces of paper “floaters.” They just float around until you either follow through on them or lose them. It’s a terribly disorganized method for someone who wants to gain greater control of his or her life.14

The use of floaters often leads to the loss of critical information, missed appointments, and lack of focus. Select a planning calendar design (the Franklin Covey Day Planner is one option) that can bring efficiency to your daily planning efforts. You should be able to determine at a glance what is coming up in the days and weeks ahead (Figure 16.2).

Many salespeople are using personal digital assistants (PDAs) to organize information. Small PDAs available from Apple or BlackBerry offer many of the features common to laptop computers. The salesperson can send and receive e-mails or text messages and download important customer information. Salespeople can also input their customer notes immediately after a sales call. The PDA also serves as an electronic memo pad, calendar, expense log, address book, and more. These organizers can be used to keep track of appointments and serve as a perpetual calendar.

You can save valuable time by finding ways to organize sales literature, business cards, order blanks, samples, and other items needed during a sales call. You may waste time on a callback because some item was not available during your first call. You may even lose a sale because you forgot or misplaced a key selling tool.

If you have a great deal of paperwork, invest in one or more file systems. Some salespeople purchase small, lightweight cardboard file boxes to keep their materials organized. These boxes can be placed easily in your car trunk and moved from one sales call to another. The orderly arrangement of selling tools is just one more method of time conservation.

The key to regular use of the four time-saving tools described previously is commitment. Unless you are convinced that efficient time management is important, you will probably find it difficult to adopt these new habits. A salesperson who fully accepts the “time is money” philosophy uses these methods routinely.