Successful salespeople aren’t merely lucky.
They are strategic, creative, and most of all, structured.
Perhaps the best advice successful salespeople can heed comes from David Ogilvy. He said, “It is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create.”
That’s not to say that being creative and original aren’t outstanding qualities to have—they are—but they won’t make a sale all on their own. Creativity and originality need to be accompanied by organization, structure, and strategy to make a sale.
The most successful salespeople don’t improvise their daily activities. They develop strategic routines designed to improve their sales and maximize their reach. And it all starts when they get out of bed.
1. Wake up early and work out
Besides the old adage of the proverbial early bird and its coveted worm, waking up early ensures that you aren’t rushed. You can approach your day with clarity and focus. That goes double if you take the time to work out, wake your body up, and get the oxygen flowing to your brain. With so many hours spent interacting with clients, leads, and colleagues, this morning alone time is essential to gathering your thoughts and strategies for the day.
2. Get into the office early to plan your day and establish your motivation
Zig Zigler said, “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing—that’s why we recommend it daily.”
Successful salespeople remind themselves every day of what they intend to do and why they intend to do it. Arrive at the office before the morning rush, familiarize yourself with your appointments for the day, and remember why you do what you do. Maybe your motivation today has to do with achieving a sales goal or maybe it has to do with something more personal. Whatever it is that drives you—and it doesn’t have to be the same thing every day—take a few minutes to meditate on it and then fold it into the fabric of your day.
Ready to put a little structure into your daily routine? Schedule a sales demo today to see how easy organization can be.
3. Set up marketing automation
In our modern world of sales, successful salespeople keep in regular communication with their pipelines. Before the bustle of the day gets underway, ensure that you’ve set up marketing automation so you can focus on less passive activities, like prospecting. Take a few minutes to set up your drip campaigns through Blitz’s CRM software and you’ll automatically reach out to a whole lot of people before lunchtime.
4. Rotate prospecting and demos
Monotony can be the death of most any process. Sales is no exception. If you set up all of your prospecting appointments in the morning and all your demo appointments in the afternoon, you run the risk of falling into a generic pitch on both counts. Switch up your meetings to keep yourself on your toes. You’ll find that this will enhance your creativity and keep the day interesting.
5. Never eat lunch alone
It can be tempting to use lunch as an opportunity to catch up on desk work. Avoid this temptation. Eating lunch with colleagues or clients helps keep you stay connected to them and keeps you up to date on the state of business both internally and externally. Even if you don’t talk about business, you have the opportunity to learn about the people you work with, and that can only improve your prospects.
6. Take risks
“Most people live and die with their music still unplayed. They never dare to try.”
These wise words came from Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics. You can’t step outside of the box if you’re not willing to fail. If you believe in an idea, it only follows that you should try to get others to believe in it, too.
7. Never stop learning
When you leave the office and return home, don’t let the day end there. Read up on current marketplace trends and sales tactics that work. Educate yourself on your industry and the products you sell. Successful salespeople are always up-to-date on their markets and continually think about how to incorporate new practices into current strategies.
Ready to put a little structure into your daily routine? Schedule a sales demo today to see how easy organization can be.
What daily routines have helped you with your sales career? Share your answers in the comments below.