I’m a field rep and I love the idea of independence and an income opportunity without a ceiling. I do see the possibilities, but I also feel a challenge to its accomplishment.
What challenge?
It’s not really time management. No. I think it’s self-management.
In the beginning, I’m completing new employee paperwork, learning product information, making a prospect list, and beginning to set and hold appointments. Things start well. I’m even making a few sales with and without the help of my sales manager.
Then, I find that I’m missing something. I’m still in survival. Each month I feel the pressure to produce, and I want to produce, but something’s missing. I’m looking for a pattern – a model – a successful process, that when I repeat the steps (1, 2, 3, etc.), I am fully confident in reaching a certain level of performance.
Words like accountability just do not quite define it. Focus gets a little closer. I want to know where I am in a process that, if followed, ensures my success. I want something simple – something easy that helps me stay on track.
Different activities share time with sales activities. The activities I necessarily do range from paperwork, eating, sleeping, family needs, physical fitness, networking, phoning, returning calls, holding appointments, preparing presentations and quotes, sending out mail, product training, sales meetings, etc.
Some of these activities do not directly produce income. They are important but not critical to making sales.
I believe what I need is self-management, but I’m thinking there’s a better set of words, and they are … Activity Management. Lance.