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ATD Blog

Developing Time Management Skills Is Essential for Salespeople

Wednesday, February 8, 2017
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Salespeople rarely spend the bulk of their day in sales presentations. In reality, there are a multitude of different activities that go into making a sale. Prospecting leads. Conducting research. Attending meetings. Checking out competitors’ social media. Returning phone calls and email. Travelling for site visits. Logging your activity into a CRM system. The list goes on.

“The people we work with and support need help to make better use of their time, increase their productivity and performance, decrease distractions, and work at their best in support of their organizations and their own physical and mental health,” says master trainer Lisa Downs in Time Management Training.

No doubt, time management training can help salespeople strategically manage procrastination, negotiate priorities, and exercise control over how they spend their time by helping them develop their time management and productivity skills. In the ATD Workshop Series book, Downs has developed a collection of complete workshops and tools that leaders in sales enablement can use to conduct effective two-day, one-day, and half-day time management workshop programs that teach how to reclaim time and productivity.

The workshops described in the book can help you build the time management and productivity skills of any employee in any industry at any level. The agendas and support materials are designed to address various aspects of time management, including:

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  • selecting an approach to use for greater productivity 
  • managing procrastination and other distractions 
  • delegating effectively 
  • setting clear goals 
  • negotiating priorities and communicating expectations 
  • managing stress and crises 
  • running effective meetings.

Specifically, the half-day workshop focuses on defining time management; taking a self-assessment; exploring approaches to time management, productivity, and organizational tools; making decisions about how to use time; and drafting an action plan. It briefly touches on how participants can set expectations for implementing new time management tools and techniques. The one-day workshop integrates delegation, procrastination, goal setting, and service level agreements. It also expands on the topic of selecting an approach to time management. Meanwhile, the two-day workshop is designed to take a deeper look at and provide greater exposure to additional concepts and common time management challenges. This program addresses stress and meeting management, negotiating priorities, fielding incoming information, handling crises, and continuous improvement.

Finally, there are free, ready-to-use resources that accompany the book, including downloadable presentation materials, agendas, handouts, assessments, and tools.

About the Author

Ryann K. Ellis is an editor for the Association of Talent Development (ATD). She has been covering workplace learning and performance for ATD (formerly the American Society for Training & Development) since 1995. She currently sources and authors content for TD Magazine and CTDO, as well as manages ATD's Community of Practice blogs. Contact her at [email protected]

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