What makes a salesperson successful? Some people believe the most important factor is hard work. This is only partly true. Some people work hard but do not accomplish much. They lack purpose and direction. This lack of organization results in wasted time and energy. Hard work must be preceded by careful planning. Every moment spent planning, according to some experts in self-management, saves three or four moments in execution.3

Wasting time and energy is the key to failure in the age of information. Many salespeople are drowning in information, and the flood of messages each day leaves little time to think and reflect. Sales and sales support personnel, like most other knowledge workers, are working under tighter deadlines. The response time to customer inquiries has been shortened and customers are less tolerant of delays. Thus, prioritizing different sales-force decisions becomes important to managing productivity.4

As pressures build, it’s easy to overlook opportunities to identify prospects, make sales, and improve service to customers. The ability to perceive opportunities and seize them is an important characteristic of high-achieving salespeople.5 Opportunity management should be viewed as a four-dimensional process consisting of the following components:

1. Time management. There are only about 250 business days per year. Within each day, there is only so much time to devote to selling. Selling hours are extremely valuable. When salespeople are asked to evaluate the major challenges they face in their work, “Not enough time” is often rated number one. Dealing with information overload and achieving balance in their lives are also major challenges.

2. Territory management. A sales territory is a group of customers and prospective customers assigned to a single salesperson. Every territory is unique. Some territories consist of one or two counties, whereas others encompass several states. The number of accounts within each territory also varies. Today, territory management is becoming less of an art and more of a science.

3. Records management. Every salesperson must maintain a certain number of records. These records help to “systematize” data collection and storage. A wise salesperson never relies on memory. Some of the most common records include planning calendars, prospect forms, call reports, summary reports, and expense reports.

4. Stress management. A certain amount of stress comes with many selling positions. Some salespeople have learned how to take stressful situations in stride. Others allow stress to trigger anger and frustration. Learning to cope with various stressors that surface in the daily life of a salesperson is an important part of the self-management process.