Your Sales Opportunities List - Short Attention Span Sales Tip

I have an idea for you. One starts with an assumption: That you get every bit as scattered as I do. That is, you’ve got so many things going on - so many projects and opportunities - that you lose track and have a difficult time knowing where everything stands. Subsequently, things get lost and you can get overwhelmed.

The key is to get and stay organized. As this is part of the subject of time management and thus one of my favorite sales issues, I thought I would weigh in with an idea for you.

Open up a spreadsheet such as Excel or Numbers (Excel for cool people like me who use Apple products) and give it the name, “Opportunities.”

Next, make a list of all of the various projects that you have in your current pipeline, for lack of a better word. In other words, where is your revenue going to come from in the weeks and months ahead?

Included in that list can be repeat orders and new projects. You could list major prospects as well. The point is to have everything in one place. Make certain that you are giving a brief description of each opportunity so that you can quickly remember exactly what it is you are pursuing.

In the next column, enter the label, “Potential revenue.” This will tell you instantly whether or not you should be pursuing this opportunity a little, a lot, or not at all.

Then, each subsequent column should be called, “Action” and in it, enter the date and action you took.

Note that this is not a CRM and it is not designed to remind you when to make the next call or take the next action. Its purpose is something different...

Every Monday, make it a point to go over this list, updating what you have done, adding new opportunities, and graying out the rows of any opportunity which is come to a conclusion, either good or bad.

This spreadsheet will give you a visual on everything that you’ve got going on, everything that’s on your front burner. Automatically, it will tell you if you have enough activity or if you need to add more. Additionally, it will keep you organized. And finally - perhaps most importantly - by checking on it every Monday, not a week will go by where you are not taking some action. Nothing will slip through the cracks and everything will keep moving forward.

Since going back out on my own with Aspire For, I have used this technique and found it to be very effective. Thought it might help you as well.

What’s YOUR sales challenge?

• No prospecting process, don’t know whom to call on or what to say? Solution: Take the Sales Challenge!
• Do you know what you should be doing but not doing enough of it? Solution: The 90 Day Sales Blitz
• Not calling on the right kinds of companies? Solution: The Lead-Gen/Vertical Market Research Program
• I have no idea! Can we talk? Absolutely: meetme.so/billfarquharson  
• Other questions? Bill Farquharson: (781) 934-7036 or bill@aspirefor.com