One of the most important skills in business – but particularly in sales – is time management. After all, there is only so much time and it is important to use it wisely if you hope to be successful.
A common practice among business and sales professionals is time blocking, a time management strategy wherein you schedule your whole day and week into time slots, each one corresponding to a specific task.
There are many different benefits of time blocking, benefits that can make employees and managers more productive with the time they have. It is especially beneficial in sales, where time sensitivity is key from getting a product out on time to when to make a sales call. If you are considering using time blocking as a time management strategy, read on to learn the benefits of time blocking in sales:
Better Organized
The most readily apparent benefit of time blocking is that you will have a much cleaner schedule. Because you organize your day based on designating certain tasks into time slots, you are better able to see what you have to do that day and approximately how much time you will spend on it. It makes it easier to understand and makes it a lot less stressful. Additionally, it will make it easier for your managers and coworkers to know what you will be doing at what time.
Another benefit of being organized is that through this method, you may grow to understand how long a certain task will take and realize that you will have more time to do other tasks. You will be able to squeeze in a meeting or lunch with someone, do a task that you thought you did not have time for, and develop a workflow from which you are able to get more done because you know what you are doing that day and how long it will take.
Higher Productivity and Effectiveness
As previously stated, being more organized can lead to you making better use of your day. But more than just being more organized, time blocking can ultimately make your work day more productive and can make the work that you do more effective.
The first reason is because you were dedicating time to a single task, you’re not going to be distracted and you will be less likely to procrastinate. Not only will you get it done, but you will be able to fully engross yourself into the task at hand. Additionally, because what you will be doing is scheduled, you will be less likely to be interrupted or distracted. During that time of high intensity work, you will be able to get a lot more done and because you’re more engaged with it, it will likely turn out better.
Another reason you will have a higher level of productivity is that you will be able to get more tasks done with the time you have. As stated in the previous section, because your schedule is a lot more organized, you will be able to fit more tasks between the gaps or, in some cases, large chunks of time you’d otherwise spend piddling around.
Additionally, this gives you more control of your schedule, which means that you may be able to organize specific time slots in strategic ways in order to get better results. A great example of this is in phone selling, where a strategy used by some salespeople is to call someone five minutes before the hour or 25 minutes after; for example, calling at either 10:55 AM or 11:25 AM.
During these times, clients are more likely to answer their phones with much higher conversion rates. Knowing when the best time intervals for making such calls can make a world of difference and is usually easier to do if you use time blocking since you will be able to set up specific times to make those calls. Time blocking can be used with other time management strategies and can be used to make implementing sales strategies more effective.
Greater Work/Life Balance
Finally, time blocking will give you a much greater work/life balance because you will get your work done during the time dedicated to getting it done. You will not have to stress during your free time what you have to do because you have already scheduled what you need to get done nor will you have to spend your free time catching up on work since you will already have the time allotted for those tasks. With everything scheduled so that everything gets done during your working hours, time blocking can allow you to make the most out of your free time and have a better work/life balance.
