SALES AND MARKETING Put Time On Your Side

If you’re at all like me, you often find yourself juggling competing demands on your time. There’s the work you want to be doing and then there’s the seemingly endless stream of phone calls, e-mails, paperwork, team meetings and other distractions that lead you miles away from how you want to spend your days. You find yourself with two (or three or four or five) watches when you only want one, you lose track of time and priorities, and you stay at the office long after the day is done. So let’s tackle this problem head on and discuss a few simple ways to minimize your burdens and maximize your minutes.

1. Embrace technology. You can benefit from the ease and speed that computers and other electronic devices make possible, but you have to be able to use these tools effectively. If you are an inefficient typist, take some lessons to help save you time. Or maybe you bought a PDA loaded with time-saving features, but never found the time to learn how to use it. If so, set aside a few hours this weekend to sit down with the manual and learn how to make your PDA work for you. If your office team is still taking phone messages on paper, tell them to cease and desist immediately. Purchase a contact management software package like GoldMine that will enable you to manage all of your contact information, phone calls, e-mails and client profiles in one place. And if you have a cell phone, use it wisely – keep in touch with clients, call back prospects and communicate with your staff. Your cell phone should be reserved for business and emergencies only during the day.

2. Be a student of time management. Peter Drucker, the late great management guru, once said, “You can’t manage anything until you learn how to manage time.” If you feel as if there’s never enough time to accomplish everything you need to do, go to the library or your local bookstore and find some books devoted to the subject of time management or spend a couple of hours with someone you know who manages his or her time well and witness firsthand how it’s done. One of the tactics that has proven effective for me is to sit down before I leave my office for the day and write up all of the tasks I want to complete the next day in order of importance. This way I wake up every morning with a clear list of goals and can go about my day without the distraction of uncertainty.

You might also try keeping a time diary in which you write down what you are doing every 15 minutes. You’ll likely discover that all of those little personal phone calls and paperwork add up to a big loss of time. Read back over your week-long diary and find where you can make effective changes in your schedule. I used to spend upwards of 70 hours a week at my office, but by reorganizing my day, embracing technology and learning how to delegate effectively, I have reclaimed 10 hours of my week while remaining just as productive. The big payoff is that now I get to spend 10 more hours a week with my family.

3. Find a cure for your superman or superwoman complex. As a business owner, you do not have to do everything for it to be done right. Maybe someone on your team will not perform a task exactly the way you would, but it will get done. Remember, you probably weren’t an ace at everything on your first try either. Give your team the time and leeway to learn and prove themselves. Show them you trust and value them and they will put forth their best effort and may even exceed your expectations.

Nobody said earning a living was easy, but it can at least be made easier. One watch, not two. This way, at the end of your life, you’ll be able to say, “I’m sure glad I spent less time at the office.”

Marty Grunder is a speaker, consultant and author, as well as owner of Grunder Landscaping Co., Miamisburg, Ohio. Reach him at 866/478-6337, landscapesales@gie.net or via www.martygrunder.com.