As a salesperson, it can be all too easy to fall into the trap of feeling like your day is a never-ending cycle of mundane tasks and chores. From filling out paperwork to researching potential customers, it seems that the endless list of "sales chores" has taken over our days as modern-day salespeople. 

We copy and we paste, we copy and we paste again. How much time is used just moving data from a database to CRM to email templates? What about actually selling? Are we dedicating enough time within our working hours to actually convince prospects to buy? Are you talking to real humans and having real conversations? 

When looking at the breakdown of activities done in an average day for a salesperson, it becomes clear that less than 15% is dedicated to "real selling" - so where does this leave us? 

In this blog post, we'll delve into how to clear those chore lists faster so we can dedicate more time to selling. It is vital for success in today's sales environment to be a leader in time management– no matter how impossible that may feel.‍

Sales Chores and Their Importance

Tedious though they are, sales chores can be fundamental to success. These can include but are not limited to updating CRM notes, grinding out CRM tasks, answering emails, follow-up emails, follow-up calls, putting in the LinkedIn time, researching contacts, researching companies, and generating reports for internal meetings. 

In the sales world, efficiency and effectiveness are your north star. These are your driving direction and goal, which will yield the most remarkable progress. While they are vital for success, there can be a grinding monotony to them or a false urgency. 

By using software aids like Plena to shorten these tasks. Other options include:

• Automation.
• Using the most versatile software.
• Sensibly automating certain types of emailing and messaging.

When you ease time and reduce the chore list, you get to focus on more valuable areas of your job. The parts only humans can do - building lasting relationships with clients, which builds stability—responding to critical questions humanly and honestly instead of the pretentious robotic facsimile of many chatbots. 

While sales chores may not be the most glamorous part of the job, they are crucial for achieving success in the long run. We cannot ignore them, but surprisingly often, we can automate and reduce them. Creating a habit of consistently tackling these chores (as well as reviewing various ways of getting them done with little effort) can lead to a robust and highly efficient sales process.

Spend Less Time Convincing, More Time Pipeline Building

As a sales professional, your main objective needs to be to build a sustainable customer pipeline that will guarantee your business's growth and stability. Convincing customers, one at a time, to buy your product or service should not be the primary focus of your day, as this can be a time-consuming exercise that might yield no tangible results. 

While human-to-human contact and conversations build relationships, the bigger picture needs most of your time. You should put your time and effort into creating a steady flow of potential customers that will keep your business afloat in the long run. With a stable pipeline in place, you can easily focus on your growth strategy and expand your client base. 

The strength and efficacy of the pipeline are paramount. Sales Process Improvement needs to be a focus, and it is a more effective target than simply sales improvement. What is the difference? When we improve the Process, we make substantial changes that build to more as a process is reused over and over. 

Sales improvement alone is often just looking at numbers and setting goals. While this can be important, it is too often just like a pep rally when your team has never practiced a single play. Process refinement and improvement are always worth the time put in. Make pipeline creation your priority, and watch your business thrive.

Make Your Chores Work for You

Though many of us dread the mere thought of chores, some tasks can actually be good for us! Small routines, in particular, can provide a sense of comfort and control on an otherwise chaotic day. 

But do you know how to make your sales chores work for you? 

Sales lead generation, sale touch points or follow-ups, thank you notes, check-in calls, updating the CRM, and email, email, email, email. Your task list will be unique to your industry and role, but every job has some tedium aspect requiring daily repetitive action. It's time to make those chores work for you. 

What can be automated with a little extra effort now, paying off over and over in days ahead? Some of those person-to-person moments are times to take advantage of. In our hectic work schedules, a time to connect can be a point of calm and reenergizing. 

While presentations and first impressions are powerful, the occasional chat about coffee or traffic can quickly warm up to a deeper relationship. Finding value within your daily tasks can motivate and build improvement into your routine. You can make lasting connections by viewing the interactions as valuable outreach and relationship-building opportunities. Embrace the idea that some chores can have surprising benefits and focus on those benefits to motivate yourself. 

Be Efficient to Maximize Performance

As we navigate our daily work lives, we can find ourselves allowing the work to fill the allotted time. 

Cyril Northcote Parkinson, a British naval historian, said it best in his humorous 1955 piece for The Economist Parkinson's Law. Parkison's Law states that "work expands to fill the time available". Limiting and focusing on your daily task time may get more done in less time. 

The self-imposed timing pressure also helps you look for efficiencies and automation options. Creating additional space in your schedule becomes possible with organization and process improvement. 

By delegating tasks, optimizing processes, and utilizing tools such as AI assistants, we can maximize our performance and achieve success in a tighter time frame. Measure the time spent on a daily task and set a goal to shrink it by 25%; you might be surprised how much you accomplish in less time. Staying organized lets us prioritize our workload and focus on what truly matters. We can ensure that we consistently perform at our best but well within the limits of the time we want to spend. ‍

Conclusion‍

In conclusion, it's easy to feel weighed down by the daily routine of sales chores we must accomplish as salespeople. However, we can dedicate more time to "real selling" and pipeline building by managing time effectively and optimizing our processes. 

Sales chores may not be the most exciting part of the job, but they are fundamental to achieving success in the long run. Therefore, we should embrace the idea that some of these tasks can have surprising benefits and focus on those benefits to motivate ourselves. 

By being efficient and maximizing our performance, we can create a powerful and highly efficient sales process that will drive growth and stability for our businesses. Remember that the strength and efficacy of the pipeline are paramount, and we should put our time and effort into building a steady flow of potential customers. 

Let's clear our chore lists faster by tightening our time windows and increasing efficiency. Turn that 15% spent on "Real Selling" into 50%. We can all dedicate more time to what we do best, building lasting relationships with our clients.