10 Ways Salespeople Waste Time and Lose Focus

Some startling statistics indicate the average salesperson actually sells for 90 minutes per day because 80% of their day is spent on non-revenue generating activities. Here’s our top 10 list on what keeps people from selling:

1. Not spending enough time on the phone- general phone activity is down all over

2. Leaving too many voice mail messages- not trying to get to live voices

3. Not knowing where to find good prospects or recognizing them once they find them- need for stronger qualification

4. Holding on to leads for too long or letting go of good leads too soone- need for stronger qualification

5. Not understanding the importance of “skill-shifting”- more on this in next week’s blog

6. Not asking important questions early in the call- must have a strong qualification criteria on each call

7. Not calling enough contacts within the organization- don’t hang out with just one contact within the organization

8. Spending too much time speculating about issues beyond their control- will the company be sold, merge?????

9. Creating self-restricting rules on the best time of day to contact a new prospect- just dial

10. Not setting a non-negotiable time- power calling times