“CloserQ, the bad news is my company just went through some lay-offs. The good news for me is I still have a job and my territory is now larger. I have had the larger territory only 30 days and I can’t seem to keep up. I am falling behind everywhere. I don’t want to ask my boss for just my old territory but I am afraid if I keep this up, I will be in the next round of lay-offs. So, should I ask for my previous territory?” Jan
Jan, without all the details, I agree there is a good news in your question for you with not getting laid off and getting a larger territory. Before giving my response, I have my usual list of qualifying questions: How long have you have been with the company? What percentage of quota are you YTD? How large is your companies sales team? How is your relationship with your boss? How long are your sales cycles? How labor intensive is the paperwork at your company? Are you inside, outside, or combination sales person? Do you have sales support (telemarketing, sales engineer, etc.)? How is your new territory doing year to date?
You have been in the new territory for only 30 days, my immediate response is to give yourself at least another 60 days before you making a decision. In the next sixty days, I recommend you work on time management. I recommend Stephen Covey’s 'First Things First' and his time management quadrants. Covey says you can divide all of your activities into four quadrants:
Time Management
Quadrant 1 (Urgent / Important)
- Crisis
- Pressing Problems
- Deal Line Driven Projects
- Never goes away but can make smaller
Quadrant 2 (Urgent / Important)
- Prevention
- Recognizing New Opportunities
- Planning / Vision
- Discipline and Control
- The most important quadrant
Quadrant 3 (Urgent / Not Important)
- Interruptions
- Popular Activities
- Pressing Matters
- Important for other people
- Learn to say ‘No’ to other people
Quadrant 4 (Not Urgent / Not Important)
- Useless Busy Work
- Time Wasters
- Useless phone calls
- Useless meetings
- Say ‘No’ to Quadrant 4 and say ‘Yes’ to Quadrant 2
X axis is Important (family, job, financial, health, etc.) and Not Important (TV, other people’s fire drills, etc). They Y axis is Urgent and Not Urgent. The key to time management is to work on activities in Quadrant 2, ‘Important but not urgent’. Quardrant 2 sales activities include prospecting, pro-active client follow up, training, planning. To find the time for Quadrant 2, you need stop your Quadrant 4 activities and reduce your Quadrant 3 activities. When you work on Quadrant 2, you will find Quadrant will be reduced because you are prepared and not in constant crisis. One comment, Quadrant 1, will never go away because there are always unforeseen urgent and important issues.
In addition to time management, I recommend you set up a meeting with your boss. In the meeting, tell your boss you are excited to have the new territory and to be working for the company, then be candid on your workload and associated stress. Ask your boss to help you prioritize your activities. You may be doing what you think are Quadrant 1 activities for your boss that in reality are not important for him or her.
Jan, 'Good Selling and Time Management’ and congratulations on your expanded territory. Reader Feedback, please click the comments below to give ‘Jan’ additional information and I want your feedback on my response. Shaun Priest aka CloserQ.
Jan, without all the details, I agree there is a good news in your question for you with not getting laid off and getting a larger territory. Before giving my response, I have my usual list of qualifying questions: How long have you have been with the company? What percentage of quota are you YTD? How large is your companies sales team? How is your relationship with your boss? How long are your sales cycles? How labor intensive is the paperwork at your company? Are you inside, outside, or combination sales person? Do you have sales support (telemarketing, sales engineer, etc.)? How is your new territory doing year to date?
You have been in the new territory for only 30 days, my immediate response is to give yourself at least another 60 days before you making a decision. In the next sixty days, I recommend you work on time management. I recommend Stephen Covey’s 'First Things First' and his time management quadrants. Covey says you can divide all of your activities into four quadrants:
Time Management
Quadrant 1 (Urgent / Important)
- Crisis
- Pressing Problems
- Deal Line Driven Projects
- Never goes away but can make smaller
Quadrant 2 (Urgent / Important)
- Prevention
- Recognizing New Opportunities
- Planning / Vision
- Discipline and Control
- The most important quadrant
Quadrant 3 (Urgent / Not Important)
- Interruptions
- Popular Activities
- Pressing Matters
- Important for other people
- Learn to say ‘No’ to other people
Quadrant 4 (Not Urgent / Not Important)
- Useless Busy Work
- Time Wasters
- Useless phone calls
- Useless meetings
- Say ‘No’ to Quadrant 4 and say ‘Yes’ to Quadrant 2
X axis is Important (family, job, financial, health, etc.) and Not Important (TV, other people’s fire drills, etc). They Y axis is Urgent and Not Urgent. The key to time management is to work on activities in Quadrant 2, ‘Important but not urgent’. Quardrant 2 sales activities include prospecting, pro-active client follow up, training, planning. To find the time for Quadrant 2, you need stop your Quadrant 4 activities and reduce your Quadrant 3 activities. When you work on Quadrant 2, you will find Quadrant will be reduced because you are prepared and not in constant crisis. One comment, Quadrant 1, will never go away because there are always unforeseen urgent and important issues.
In addition to time management, I recommend you set up a meeting with your boss. In the meeting, tell your boss you are excited to have the new territory and to be working for the company, then be candid on your workload and associated stress. Ask your boss to help you prioritize your activities. You may be doing what you think are Quadrant 1 activities for your boss that in reality are not important for him or her.
Jan, 'Good Selling and Time Management’ and congratulations on your expanded territory. Reader Feedback, please click the comments below to give ‘Jan’ additional information and I want your feedback on my response. Shaun Priest aka CloserQ.
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