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Time Traps

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Time Traps

Proven Strategies for Swamped Salespeople

Thomas Nelson,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

In sales, time literally is money. Learn the best ways to utilize your time to increase your sales and live a fuller life.

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Editorial Rating

7

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Recommendation

Countless tasks compete for a salesperson’s time every day. Salespeople who fall into these "time traps" sacrifice the hours they need to invest in their ultimate purpose: selling. Sales and work-life balance expert Todd Duncan identifies the eight most common time traps that snare salespeople (and other businesspeople, also), including the "identity trap," the "organization trap," the "control trap" and the "party trap." He explains how to dodge these traps and streamline your workday so that you devote most of your time to selling. He offers strategies for selling more in less time, such as nurturing relationships with high-value customers to generate repeat business and referrals. Duncan also suggests ideas about how to use all your new free time, offering guidelines for balancing your life outside of work. There is a Christian flavor to his advice, but it is subtle and shouldn’t deter those who are not spiritually oriented. This isn’t a magic formula for increasing sales or buying time; in fact, much of the information is not new. But getAbstract recommends it as a nicely packaged approach to maximizing the value of your time as a salesperson, not only in your workday, but also in your life.

Summary

"Time Traps"

Each salesperson faces an omnipresent challenge: how to spend your time doing what you want to be doing and should be doing - selling. Instead, salespeople find themselves whittling away hours doing everything but selling, including faxing, filling out forms, filing, answering e-mails, talking on the phone or rewriting to-do lists. Time traps lurk around every corner. To harness the full power of your capabilities as a salesperson, learn to elude these traps.

Most professionals try to solve time pressure by using the same old time management tactics. But, "time management is a waste of time." Instead, use "task management" to unlock your productivity. Take control of your time, your life and your success by avoiding the eight time traps that ensnare salespeople and other businesspeople, as well. Here’s how to beat these lurking pitfalls.

"The Identity Trap"

Working long hours has become an American tradition. When a salesperson spends a great deal of time working, his or her entire self-image can become entwined with the profession. This might help a salesperson rack up sales (though not always), but it isn’t the formula for being a successful...

About the Author

Todd Duncan is author of the bestseller High Trust Selling. An expert on sales and work-life balance, he consults, conducts seminars, and publishes tapes and books.

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