Sales Tip of the Week from Mike Leeds – Pro Sales Coaching
Anchor appointments can help you "gain" additional time in your day
Let's face it – most of us aren't making money while we are driving to and from sales meetings. In larger metropolitan areas especially, many salespeople waste a lot of time in their cars (or using public transportation) and are seeing fewer customers or prospects.
To maximize your customer-facing time, I suggest dividing your sales territory into specific areas or quadrants and scheduling specific days to be in those areas. When laying out your schedule in this format, you can target accounts you need to visit on a proactive basis. Yes, there are occasionally going to be those days when you have to drive from one end of the metro area to the other based on customer need; however, these occurrences can be dramatically reduced with effective planning. Start with setting up a primary appointment in the area (an anchor appointment) and build your schedule from there. Ultimately, this technique is most effectively used when a sales professional can spend an entire day in a single office building or business park (and never need to move their car.)
I've found that customers are very understanding when you share with them the day(s) you will be in their area. Of course, if it's an emergency situation or a customer schedule issue – you make that work. Also, if you haven't scheduled that particular day yet – this could be your anchor appointment.
The results are more productive time management so you can focus on what's important to you, higher quality appointments since they're planned and thought out
, and a reduction of your expenses.
Have a Successful Sales Day!