CHAPTER 15
MANAGING YOUR TIME AND TERRITORY
I. The Value of Time
II. The Self Management Process
III. Setting Goals
A. Need for Goals
B. Nature of Goals
C. Types of Sales Goals
1. Performance Goals
2. Activity Goals
3. Conversion Goals
D. Setting Sales Goals
IV. Allocating Resources
A. Resources to be Allocated
B. Where to Allocate Resources
C. Account Classification and Resource Allocation
1. ABC Analysis
2. Grid Analysis
a. The grid and current customers
3. Customer Relationship Management Software
D. Investing in Accounts
V. Implementing the Time Management Strategy
A. Daily Activity Planning
1. Guidelines
B. Planning Process
1. Using the Computer for Planning
2. Need for Flexibility
3. Making More Calls
4. Routing
5. Zoning
6. Using E-mail and Telephone
D. Handling Paperwork and Reports
1. Using the Computer to Handle Paperwork
VI. Evaluating Performance
A. Postcall Analysis
B. Activity Analysis
C. Performance Analysis
D. Productivity Analysis
VII. Selling Yourself
Teaching Suggestions
1. Goal-setting
The discussion on goals can begin with asking students their goals. What is their goal for this class
(tell them it is okay to set getting a B as a goal, as long as the goal fits in a framework which you
will discuss-this will encourage them to be more candid)? For school in general? How does that
relate to their long-term life objectives? While sales goals can be classified as performance,
productivity, and activity goals, goals (in general) can be classified as life goals and instrumental
goals. A life goal is something that the person wishes to accomplish in life (have a successful
marriage and family life, own a ranch, be educated etc.) or has to have in order to live the desired
lifestyle. The instrumental goal helps that the person obtain the life goal (find a mate, get a job in a
small town, go to school). The job and job-related goals should be seen as instrumental goals. This
is a complicated topic, but can be made clearer by referring back to their original goals. And, by
clearly expressing one’s goals, the individual can make smarter decisions about life alternatives.
A discussion concerning the characteristics of goals is also appropriate. Good goals are:
1. Specific. Vague goals make it difficult to develop plans because the objective isn’t clear. A lack
of specificity also makes the goal more like a “suggestion” than an end-point.
2. Measurable. You have to know when you have reached a goal.
3. Achievable but not too easy. The best goals are those that require some stretching to obtain.
Thus, a B would be an okay goal if that was a stretch.
4. Realistic and prioritized. Not all goals are of equal value. Evaluate the desirability of each goal
so that you can prioritize your time and effort.
5. Time-oriented. Put a deadline on the goal. This helps you plan to achieve and is part of
knowing if you have achieved it. Otherwise, it could continue to hang out there forever.
2. Have students refer to Exhibit 15-3. Change the monthly commission goals, commission levels, or
productivity estimates and goals to various numbers and work through the changes in activity
goals. Another method is to ask a student what s/he wants to earn in a year after graduation, then
use the other numbers from the Exhibit to work out the activity they must perform. Then ask them
how much more they would like to earn in year 2. How will they do that? Can they make more
calls? Probably not – so how will this happen? This question allows you to move into the need for
strategy.
3. Market analysis is a little hard to understand. The key difference between account analysis and
market analysis is that in market analysis, the rep is looking for larger patterns, for market
segments. You may want to begin with a discussion of account analysis using the Sales Call
Allocation Grid (Exhibit 15-5). It is one thing to analyze and develop a completely tailored strategy
for each account. But if there are no similarities between the accounts, the amount of time allocated
to planning will be tremendous. A more effective method is to find one account in which you are
successful, then look for other accounts like it. That is the objective and procedure of market
analysis using the Sales Call Allocation Grid. You may want to walk through this with an example
for a commercial printing rep. Using the grid, the rep has divided the territory into four account
types. The rep has been very successful with training departments, having closed 12 accounts. She
has 8 attorney accounts, 7 marketing departments, and 24 other various accounts. Based on this
information, she decides that finding more training departments would be a good plan. So,
analyzing why the 12 use her company’s services, she recognizes several important needs: quality,
binding, graphics and layout help, and quick turnaround. Also, these accounts use her company for
1 to 3 major jobs each month. Her strategy, then, is to call on as many current accounts as possible
that have training departments who don’t use her services. So she would call on the 7 marketing
departments and find out who the training director is, then call on that person.
4. The second Thinking It Through is a good introduction to the Activity Planning Process. The
Activities Planning Process is a good tool for beginning a discussion of the time management
process. It is important for students to understand that all activities should be planned for that is,
all activities need time set aside so that these activities will be accomplished.
5. If we were to analyze a salesperson’s job time wise, it would fall into four categories:
1. Planning and preparation
2. Travel and waiting
3. Selling, either face-to-face or via technology (email, chat, phone)
4. Non-selling activities (entering data into the CRM, generating reports, sales meetings and
training sessions, customer training and service, etc.)
The greatest improvements in time management are made in planning and preparation, such as in
account classification, call scheduling, and preparation of the sales presentation. It isn’t that the rep
can gain more by planning less (or using less time to plan), the rep gains by doing a better job of
planning. And, more can be gained by using the time one must allot to travel and waiting and to
non-selling activities more wisely. For example, waiting time can be converted to paperwork time.
Travel time can be used for paperwork if using commercial modes of travel, or for self-
development through training podcasts in the car or on a plane. Sales meetings can be attended
with the attitude that a great sales idea awaits and that idea will result in additional sales.
Thus, one major point to get across that effective time use isn’t always simply allocating the proper
amount of time to each activity. Effective time use includes using time allocated.
Here are some tips for improving the use of time:
Planning and preparation
1. Use account analysis to space frequency of calls on potential, not convenience. Using ABC
analysis, for example, will reduce the number of calls on low priority accounts.
2. Know where you are going, and why. Recall the need for call goals and make sure those
goals are set for each call.
3. Schedule time as far in advance as possible. Use a tickler feature on a computerized
calendar or CRM software to remind you of appointments and callbacks.
4. Use post-call analysis to eliminate needless calls.
5. Use the telephone whenever possible to avoid personal calls, but don’t over-rely on email
to avoid making calls.
6. Keep adequate records and review data before making the call to eliminate small talk and
to avoid unnecessary call-backs.
7. Be prepared for the call so you don’t have to go back to the office (or to your car) for
anything.
8. Determine the best time to visit important buyers, then build your schedule around them.
9. Have back-up plans in case a customer cancels an appointment.
10. Keep in contact with the office for changes that might affect your schedule.
Travel and Waiting
1. Route or zone calls to reduce travel time.
2. Make appointments to assure the interview and reduce waiting time.
3. Use lunch time (or other non-selling time) for travel.
4. Use waiting time for paperwork, or make phone calls.
5. Reschedule if waiting time is too long.
Selling
1. See the right person, the one who can make a decision.
2. Prepare carefully. Be sure of your purpose and what you can accomplish.
3. Avoid call-backs. Over-prepare the paperwork so you’ll be ready for any contingency.
4. Send literature in advance to reduce presentation time.
5. Get right to the purpose. Chatter has some merit, but it doesn’t have to be first (when it
will sound insincere). They know why you are there and their time is important, too.
6. Listen and take notes. Avoid call-backs to get the necessary information.
7. Qualify early. Don’t waste time if there is no interest.
8. Sell the full line or cross-sell – within reason. Additional sales can be made now with zero
travel and waiting time.
9. Sell other applications or other prospects in the same firm, the same building, the same
complex. Zero travel time.
Non-Selling Activities
1. Keep office routine to a minimum. Do paperwork outside of prime selling time.
2. Don’t stop after a sale or after a string of bad luck.
3. Keep coffee breaks, heavy and long lunches, and personal business to a minimum.
4. Learn to say No. Resist tasks that reduce your selling time without adding to your total
sales success.
5. Watch customer service. With the right relationships with others in your organization, you
can turn customers over to them (i. e. billing, credit, shipping, etc.) and actually improve
customer service.
6. If you didn’t use the second Thinking It Through to set up the discussion, use it now to wrap up.
You can also ask someone to reflect on the Selling Yourself quote from Paul Lushin, noted sales
trainer, “…what I have to do to make myself do the things I really don’t want to do so I can enjoy
the performance I seek.” If students are slow to respond, ask if anyone scheduled classes with
breaks in-between because they knew they would use the time to study if they did so. That is a
“trick” that helps them avoid slacking off or procrastinating.
Suggested Answers to Ethics Problems
1. A sales manager schedules all sales training and sales meetings on the weekend so the
salespeople lose no selling time. Is this ethical? Does your answer depend on how they get paid
– straight salary, salary plus commission, or straight commission?
Students tend to reject this practice out of hand as they want their weekends. Many salespeople,
though, work on Saturdays to clean up paperwork. They choose, on their own, to spend as much
2. You have several major accounts that you are being asked to grow substantially in the new year.
To do that, you have to ignore some of the needs of smaller and medium-sized accounts, accounts
that are located in rural areas and farther away. Under what circumstances would this cause you
ethical concern, if any? Would it matter what type of customer you served? Or if smaller
companies actually paid prices with higher margins?
Suggested Answers to Questions and Problems
1. Re-read the Opening Profile, From the Buyer’s Seat, and Building Partnerships. What themes
run through all three essays?
One theme is the importance of choosing how to spend time wisely. Just showing up isn’t just
that’s about making wise choices in how to spend time. Another theme is persi
2.Mike Rocker, Susan Flaviano, and many other salespeople work out of their home. Rocker and
Flaviano both recognize how tempting it is to work longer and to put off paperwork until the
weekends because it is so convenient. What problems might succumbing to such temptation
cause? What safeguards can they put into place?
The obvious temptation is to spend too much time working, and then ignoring one’s own health
(either emotional or physical or both), family and friends. Some safeguards include creating an
3. Mike Rocker and John Tanner both work in health care sales but Rocker travels the western half
of the US and works out of his home, and Tanner manages a territory consisting of one small city
and works out of the office. Compare and contrast the challenges they face in managing their
business.
Mike spends time traveling by air to see far-flung accounts. His time management challenges
involve using airport time wisely and scheduling calls in a city; if a customer can’t see him on the
4. Shakespeare wrote, “To thine own self be true. “ How would you apply this statement to your
planning and developing activities?
5. What factors are important for classifying customers? Why?
The following factors would be important for classifying customers.
a. Past sales, total for the product category and for your product
6. Distinguish between routing and scheduling and between routing and zoning. Explain how
routing and scheduling can interact to complicate the planning of an efficient day’s work.
Salespeople can only call on buyers when buyers want to see them. Scheduling involves setting up
sales calls within the buyers’ limits. Routing is a framework for the salesperson to use to minimize
7. Some companies talk about sales as being an opportunity to manage your own business. What,
based on this chapter, would you say makes that perspective more accurate? Less accurate?
Answers will vary by student, but the factors that make sales an opportunity to manager your own
business are these:
8. One sales manager said “Sales is a numbers game. To make more sales, make more calls.”
Should sales managers encourage salespeople to continually increase the number of calls made
each week? Explain your answer. Read From the Buyer’s Seat 15.1. How does this essay relate to
your answer?
Of course not. Sales managers should be just as interested in the quality of sales calls. The number
of calls only reflects the effort the rep is making. Some managers do get caught up in the
conversion rate and expect it to remain the same no matter how many calls are made. In some
9. One recruiter told a class that students are used to getting feedback on how they are doing every
couple of months, but salespeople do not get a “final grade” until a year has gone by. He claims
that students have a hard time making that adjustment when they enter the work world. What do
salespeople do to know where they stand at any given time?
Professional salespeople keep records of their activity in their CRM system, and how each call
What do you do now that helps you know where you stand in your classes? Why is such
knowledge important?
One thing I’ve noticed in working with students on academic probation is that they do not keep
10. How would you use the sales effort allocation grid to determine a prospecting plan? Be specific
and number each step of the process you would use.
The steps are these:
1. Plot all current accounts on the grid.
3. Once patterns are identified, then look for leads that match the strong position, high
opportunity accounts.
Suggested Answers to Case Problems
Case 15-1: Will Superion’s Newest Salesperson Make It?
Questions:
1. Which salesperson should Shelly ask for help and why?
2. If you were the sales manager, where would you focus your efforts for overall team improvement—
generating better leads, writing better proposals, or doing better demos? And how do these
activities seem to support closing service contracts at the time of the initial purchase?
Closing rates of demos is almost 100%, so the key seems to be proposals to demos (assuming that
a proposal leads to a demo). That conversion rate is close to 2:1 and pretty consistent so any
3. Why would the company distinguish between service contracts sold with the equipment versus later?
Closing a service contract later means another sales call or two, which lowers overall productivity.
Case 15-2: RipHeat
Questions:
1. Where would you place these accounts on the sales effort allocation grid? Justify your responses.
Some students will fail to recognize the potential of ACH – they’ll say with the exclusive
agreement, then there’s no potential left. But that is really a strength of position measure. So ACH
is strong position/high potential. The Orchard is weak position/high potential. They are growing
2. What is your sales strategy for each one? What is the order of priority?
The order of priority will vary from student to student but ACH and the Orchard are likely the top
3. If you were to look for new companies to work with, use the information from these descriptions
and design the perfect prospect.
ROLE PLAY EXERCISE
National Steel
You are the Chief Information Officer for National Steel, a company that supplies the construction industry
with steel products like I-beams. The Gartner salesperson has called on you every other week for the
past two years, and frankly, it is annoying. When the sales call is made, greet the sales rep like a
friend. Ask “What’s up?” and if the answer is something like “Not much,” then say you are really
busy. If the rep begins to tell you that you are not going to be called on regularly, express relief but
also concern regarding the level of service that will be provided. Raise as an issue that you don’t
think customer support has been as strong as you would like; note that in the regular meetings you
have with the salesperson, at least once a month the meeting is taken up by two or three minor
annoyances that should be resolved by customer support. These include minor billing issues, trouble
accessing research reports, and the like.
Maguire Manufacturing
You are the new CIO for Maguire, and the company is growing rapidly. Currently, the IT department has
twelve people but you expect to triple that, and to add a layer of management over the next 18 months.
The growth has you super busy. You want Gartner to operate on automatic pilot – in other words, the less
you have to mess with it, the better. Currently, you have a subscription to their research and that seems
sufficient. If the rep says anything about upping the regular visits, say, “Well, that’s nice. Why don’t you
call on Bob?” If probed, Bob is the guy that heads up a team of three support staff – they’re the ones who
go around installing and fixing computers in the office. If probed, you can tell the rep to call back in three
months because by then you expect to have your managers identified and promoted – one each in cyber–
security, networks, and support.
Grafton Gifts
You are the VP of marketing. Your company imports gifts and home decorating items which are sold by a
sales staff to retailers. You also operate an online store called MyHome – Life Lived.
You have virtually no data on the stores. You have an excel spreadsheet that has names and addresses of
store managers – the addresses came from the shipping department. But your names list is so out of date
that you expect only about 10% to be accurate. You also have purchasing information from the financial
system but you have to manually match that to the spreadsheet and there are always new customers that are
not in the spreadsheet at all. You want a CRM system but for it to work, it has to have salespeople input
customer data. With a CRM system, you could do email marketing and improve salesperson productivity.
But the salespeople are worried that a CRM system would mean the ability to create online order entry, a
call center, etc, and that would all lead to fewer salespeople and less importance. Or at least, you think that
is why that is happening. So you could buy a software system but until the VP of sales agrees to it,
anything you get isn’t going to be that useful.
The CIO has been no help at all. She seems unable to make a decision and since sales likes things the way
they are, you don’t think anything is going to happen.
Don’t offer any of that information unless asked. Do, however, say that you don’t think there’s any point in
going any further. Ask the rep to just keep you posted on any changes or interesting developments with a
phone call or email every now and then.
EXERCISE 15-1
Keep a time diary for 1 week. Record at every meal and bedtime what you did and for how long. You may
find it easier if you keep a small notebook with you at all times. At the end of the week, divide your
activities into categories, then determine how much time you spent in each category. How could you use
this to plan your time? Did you use the information to plan? What activities took longer than you thought
they would? Why did they take longer? How much time did you spend on your phone, with Snapchat, FB,
Twitter, Pinterest, etc.?