Top Time-Saver Tips for Sales Leaders (or Anyone, Really)

We all know we spend a lot of time answering email and chat messages from teammates. But did you know it can be as much as 28% of your day?

Then we spend another 23 hours per week on average in either scheduled or spur-of-the-moment meetings, usually on a video screen these days. That’s more than half of a 40-hour work week (as if anyone has those anymore).

Who has time to get work done?

Add to that a world where you’re under increased pressure to show results and drive growth, especially post-COVID. It’s no wonder more and more people are stressed and exhausted and looking for ways to save time and strike a better balance.

The good news is that it can be done. It just takes the right mix of good habits and good tools to help your team run like clockwork and thrive in this increasingly fast-paced new environment. Following these tips can help set you on the right path.

Block off time on your calendar

With all of those meetings, impromptu or otherwise, it can be beneficial to your success – and your sanity – to reserve time just for focus. In psychology, there’s a principle called “flow” that describes becoming completely immersed in an activity. Achieving a flow state can be rewarding, but it takes time and concentrated attention.

If you want to “get in the zone” or achieve flow, block off focus time on your calendar – time when you don’t schedule or accept meeting invites, and when you turn off email and message notifications for a while. Use that time for your sales prospecting or some other activity that requires your full attention. Let everything else wait for a little while.

Schedule time for email

It’s tempting to read and deal with emails as they come in, but that’s actually a time waster. For every break in your flow, it can take anywhere from 1 to 23 minutes to recover. That’s a lot of lost time. According to psychologists, what happens is that when you’re thinking about one task and another task interrupts, you reduce your ability to think about each of them.

Simply scheduling time every hour to read email instead of looking at it as it arrives in your inbox can be a time-saver – up to 21 minutes per day. However, balance that against the expectations of your role. If you’re receiving emails that require immediate response and that can’t sit, then turning off notifications may not be the right thing for you.

Make good use of your tools

Technology can be a sales team’s best friend. When your email program, CRM, and marketing automation platform all work together, you can save time and better reach your buyers.

D&B Hoovers helps sales teams save time by enabling you to quickly build contact lists for prospecting, as well as tracking important events and updates at your target companies through automated alerts. The platform also offers options to access intent data to see when prospects are in-market as well as company information that can help you assess whether a prospect is a risk.

Make efficient use of meetings

Make sure that meetings will be a good use of your time by having a clear agenda beforehand and sticking to it. Also set a time limit for meetings and stick to that. Don’t run over.

Both of these tactics communicate to meeting participants that their time is valuable and that you’re committed to using it as effectively as possible. Not only will you make your own day run more smoothly, but you’ll win respect and improve business relationships.

Another key aspect of a successful meeting is preparation. In addition to having your presentation ready and rehearsed, know who will be in the meeting and research a little about them ahead of time. With D&B Hoovers, you get access to robust company data to help you prepare for meetings and have relevant conversations. 

Get a Free Trial

Why not check out the free trial of D&B Hoovers and see how it can smooth out some of the wrinkles in your day? Better time management – and prospecting data – is just a click away.

The information provided in articles are suggestions only and based on best practices. Dun & Bradstreet is not liable for the outcome or results of specific programs or tactics. Please contact an attorney or tax professional if you are in need of legal or tax advice.