Why Time Management is a Vital Skill that All Salespeople Should Master

We’ve all heard the phrase ‘time is money’ and that’s why you should know how to best manage your time, especially as it relates to your sales. Today on the Atlanta Small Business Show, we’re joined once again by Matt Easton, sales trainer, consultant, and Founder of Easton University, to discuss effective time management in sales.

Transcription:

Jim Fitzpatrick:
So Matt, thank you so much for taking the time out of your schedule to join us once again on the show.

Matt Easton:
Thank you so much for having me, Jim. And here’s my goal for today. There they are. Hi, how are you doing? There’s one person out there, at least one that we’re going to change their life today. They’re going to go from average to exceptional with what you and I are going to work through here today. So I’m really excited to get these ideas out there.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
I love it.

Matt Easton:
I know at least one we’re going to make that impact.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
It’s probably more like 100 or maybe 1,000. Because everybody needs to take this lesson on time management. So talk to us about the importance of managing time in the area of sales, specifically.

Matt Easton:
It’s vital for us to understand time today because time is one of the few levers that doesn’t go away when the economy goes down, Jim.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s right.

Matt Easton:
We can always lever up on our time. Let me ask you a question, and I think you know the answer, because we’ve already talked about what we’re going to talk about, but what’s the most valuable thing that we all have?

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Time.

Matt Easton:
Time, right.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s it. That’s right.

Matt Easton:
Here’s where a lot of people get this wrong and where I’m hoping I can win the hearts and minds of a few people out there. Where we get it wrong is we think in terms of, okay, well time is really valuable, but not necessarily. Let’s say I gave you a … Give me a super expensive, super exotic car that you would want.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
A Bentley.

Matt Easton:
A Bentley. I have one of those in the garage, you can borrow mine.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Maybe that’s why I said it.

Matt Easton:
Perfect. So if I take my Bentley and I use that to go off-roading, that asset kind of becomes a liability, correct?

Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s right.

Matt Easton:
Yeah. I’m going to do all kinds of damage to the car. This is what I want people thinking of in terms of their time. Now, I’m with the audience out there. If you’re anything like me, if you’re anything like most people, you’re like, I’m going to turn this segment off because I don’t want to micromanage my time. I’m not going to show you how to micromanage your time. That never worked for me. I would never teach them to do things that didn’t work for me.
What I’m going to talk to them about is setting their goals and thinking about their time appropriately. For example, you only have a certain amount of hours in the day. You need to make sure that you’re using those hours appropriately and you’re not scrolling through social media from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM. That’s like taking the Bentley off-road.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s right.

Matt Easton:
You do that later on in the afternoon. But the simplest way to do that is to not go in, and I know it might work for a few people, it never worked for me. Going into your calendar and being like, in this 15 minute block, I’m going to do this, and in this time I’m going to do this. What I want to show them today is how to create a sheet like this where they can set their goals every morning and then have certain activities that they do every day, whether they’re feeling great, not feeling great, there’s certain things that they do every day that match up with those goals. And then if you notice on my sheet, I’ve got three major things I have to accomplish today. I had a live event with the New Jersey Apartment Association. I have an interview with the great and powerful Jim Fitzpatrick. I’m doing that right now. And then I have the Entrepreneurs on Fire podcast.
Those are the three things that I have to do. Three, only three major things that I have to do. But then I have all these little tick boxes on the activities that I have to do every day, regardless. And what I have found is when you set sheets like this, time management becomes very easy. I’m happy to walk you through how they can make their own sheet. They could go to EastonUniversity.com/Goals, get the template for free. But if you’d like, I can kind of walk you through, Jim, how I do my days and how folks out there listening could set something like this up for themselves.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Yeah, let’s do it.

Matt Easton:
Okay, perfect. So you can go to EastonUniversity.com/Goals, get this template. Or you can just …

Jim Fitzpatrick:
We’ll put a link right underneath this video so they can just link over there.

Matt Easton:
Perfect. Or they can just steal the concept. But this is what I found works for me. First thing, have a picture of a vision board. Especially in a recession like this, you have to have something that motivates you. Now, that picture can’t be, for your case, Jim, it can’t be your super beautiful wife or your 24 children, because you already have those. It has to be something you don’t already have. In my case, right now I’m working on a 1966 Ford GT40. You mentioned the Bentley. Look, I pulled an old one out from two 12 of 2020. That car is now in my garage, so that’s no longer pushing me.
Then every morning I write my goals down as if they’ve already occurred. Things like at the risk of embarrassing myself, I’ll share some of my personal ones. I have 10,000 students on Easton University. I don’t have that yet. I make $30,588,000 a year. I don’t make that yet. I have an ultra luxury home by the ocean. Jim, I’m stealing your idea, and down in there in Florida. I’m a YouTube silver creator. I have a million followers. Maybe after this interview I will. I have a million person mailing list. I’m consistently recognizing public and I’m a jujitsu world champion. Why is it important for them, whatever they’re doing, to write down their goals? Because when you start the morning by writing, and if you notice I have them printed and I write them, now their day, they’re going to be able to manage their time a lot more effectively.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Right. That becomes the fuel to get out there and make it happen.

Matt Easton:
Exactly right. So Jim, if you walk into the store and you’re a coworker and you want to talk about how awful the football team is, I know that that conversation does not line up with me being a YouTube silver creator, getting a million followers, making 35 million. It’s easy for me to figure out where I need to put my time.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s right.

Matt Easton:
Now, here’s where I make it really, really easy for myself. Now, I know a lot of people aren’t able to do the volume that I do. I have a hundred dots here. I fill in every day, those dots. Green, if I leave a voicemail, red, if I create an opportunity. I’m making a hundred phone calls a day. You can see I was only making 80 back then. I have old ones from way back in the day where I started with 20. And then every morning I have these check boxes, and wherever they’re at in their career, If you can make a sheet like this, I wake up at 5:00 AM, check, check the box. Eat breakfast, drink athletic greens, plug to them, they don’t pay me, but it’s good stuff.
I make a TikTok, an Instagram, a LinkedIn, a YouTube. I do 20 calls before 9:30 AM. If you’re not checking that every day, Jim, you’re not managing your time. Okay, I’m really going to embarrass myself. Hundred squats, I did those. I did not do my hundred pushups, I still need to do those. Post a YouTube, did that. Film in studio, did that. Clear personal pipeline, did that. 10 minute lifts, still need to do that. Drink a shake, clear my email, sign my certified master sales consultant credentials for our students, I need to do that. Clear voicemail, ride three miles, train jujitsu, still need to do that. Five minute meeting. If they just go through their life and go, What are the things that I need to do every single day? Trust me, they’ll get cars, they’ll get watches. There’s an old one with a watch.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
They’ll get whatever they want out of life, right? That’s the key.

Matt Easton:
Correct. But the key is, instead of micromanaging and being like, at least for me, Jim, from 08:05 to 09:10, I’m going to do this thing. It’s really easy to say, I can’t do that today. But if you start making a sheet like this and you just say, Hey, this is an agreement I have with myself, I’m going to do these things every day. No matter what the economy is doing, no matter what their boss is saying, no matter how angry or upset their customers are, these kind of sheets will keep them absolutely focused. They don’t have to pay us a dime, they can get the free one from our website, they can make up their own. But I really just want to get through to one person out there, because if I had started doing this, I wish I started doing this in my teens and in my twenties, and I didn’t, my life would’ve gotten a lot easier.
In terms of time, it’s our most valuable asset and we have to recalibrate every morning and go, Okay, what are the most important things that I’m going to spend my time on? At that point, if I have time left over in the day, feel free to talk smack about the football team, but I’m staying focused until I get the calls that I need to make.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s right.

Matt Easton:
The meetings that I need to have.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s right. In sales, it’s so easy for us to get sidetracked, isn’t it? And we can even rationalize it so many ways and so many times that we say, Well, the reason that I dabbled over here in social media, or I was on the phone with this individual so long, or maybe it was a friend of mine, or what have you. Because you never know, they might recommend somebody to me, it doesn’t work that way, you’re kind of lying to yourself.

Matt Easton:
Correct.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
I mean, you really have to stay with your plan and stay on track. That’s the key

Matt Easton:
A hundred percent. And Jim, you just laid out a bunch of somewhat negative scenarios, getting distracted. Here’s another scenario that nobody talks about that a sheet like this helps with. I refer to it in our training at Easton University, as stopping to take pictures. What do I mean by stopping to take pictures? Jim walks in with his super brilliant, beautiful, amazing wife. They buy a Bentley. I’m excited because I’m getting a commission. Hey, let’s all go grab a coffee. Let me take the rest of the day off.
When you’re winning like that, winning begets more winning. The worst thing that you can do is stop, like they do in a fishing expedition, and take pictures. What a sheet like this does, this sheet’s the same sheet whether I closed four deals or no deals, I know that no matter what, Hey guys, I’d love to grab a cup of coffee and that was great, certainly want to celebrate that. But I’m not leaving today until I finish my, I do a hundred, they can do 20, until I finish my 20 prospecting calls.
When you see it, and I know a lot of people aren’t going to do this, Jim, because they’re embarrassed. I gave up my pride a long time ago, because it feels really cool to have things like cool watches and Bentleys. You can make fun of me all day long, but you wait, I’m going to be cruising around in a 1966 GT40 and then we’ll see who gets the last laugh. When you have a sheet like this every day and you’re like, Sorry, I’m working my plan, got to stay focused, time management becomes so–

Jim Fitzpatrick:
And people respect that. They admire that in others. They’ll say, Hey, we’ll hold off on the coffee, don’t worry about that. Keep doing what you’re doing, we love it.

Matt Easton:
I think I would respect it.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
So would I.

Matt Easton:
It sounds like you would respect it.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
So would I. Nobody ever wants to get in the way of somebody else’s progress.

Matt Easton:
Yeah. I know both employers and employees are listening to this, and I think this will resonate with both of them. We all have those complaints about unnecessary meetings, about fluff and time. If you want a Get Out of Jail Free card on the TPS reports or the morning breakfast meeting that nothing ever happens, if you’re the person that is working through a sheet like this every day, and the boss comes and goes, Hey, we need you to come and sit through this meeting. Got it. I’d love to finish my call. You know what? You keep doing what you’re doing. They’re going to see trust, credibility.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s right.

Matt Easton:
If you’re a person that holds yourself accountable, it makes it very easy for your boss to give you the latitude that you need to get your job done.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Not only does the boss notice that, but he or she also noticed that you’re going to one day make a great leader. Because if you’re going to hold your people accountable to these standards and this kind of an exercise each day, you’re building a winning organization. So you’re showing that boss of yours that you’re an individual that doesn’t need to be led, you’re on it. You’ve got your game going. You’ve got your personal objectives and your own goals, and you’re going to do anything and everything you need to in order to achieve them. That’s what every employer wants to see, every manager wants to see in the people working for them.

Matt Easton:
I’m with you a hundred percent. Jim, you and I are going to have a breakthrough moment with somebody. I want to look right at you right now. Jim’s got my back on this. I get it that it’s struggling right now. I get it that the economy’s tough. I get it that you’re scared. I get it that you’re stressed out. But you can’t change any of that stuff. What you can do, whether you use my sheet or make up your own, what you can do right now is make a commitment to yourself to say, I don’t care what’s going on in politics or the economy, or the news, or interest rates, I’m going to do the things that I need to do each and every day, and I’m going to trust my process.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s right.

Matt Easton:
Please. And I’m talking to you right now because I wish I could have had this conversation with myself decades ago.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Sure. We all do.

Matt Easton:
Find a process, trust your process. Jim’s been around as well. This is the kind of stuff that will help you, whether you’re a small business owner or it’s your first job. Get a process of, these are my non-negotiables. I do these things every single day. And please just do them. You will be shocked at how quickly you start to hit those big goals.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
And you too will be mad you didn’t start this earlier, and if you did, that you didn’t stick with it. That’s the key. This is a block and tackle game here. And this technique that Matt’s showing you, you know if your heart of hearts that if you go to work to work, and not go to work to talk to others or get sidetracked, you’re going to make sales. You’re going to make things happen. It’s only when we get sidetracked that we get into trouble. My mother used to say, an idle mind is a devil’s playground. And man, that’s so true in sales. That once we start to get off in other areas, guess what? We turn around and it’s lunchtime. And then the lunch begins to become 90 minutes and you don’t even want to go back to work. And when you do, you don’t have a plan to work. And that’s what this is all about. I love this idea, there’s no question. In matter of fact, I’m going to implement it for myself because I too want a fancy car like you’ve got.

Matt Easton:
And Jim, when the economy is down, and I’m not trying to be negative, but I also want to be real to our viewers out there. When times are tough, it’s so easy for us to make excuses and get in that … There’s a pod at your company. Hopefully, if you’re the owner, find this pod and figure out a way to either turn it around or get those people out.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s right.

Matt Easton:
You can easily spend your whole day talking about things weren’t what it was like four months ago. Or you can just put your head down and move forward. And one last piece, it’s not too late to start.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s right.

Matt Easton:
For those of you that are longer in your career, or you’re like, Man, I’m just trying to get three more years so I can hang out with my grandkids, or whatever it is, it’s never ever too late to start habits like this. Please, just for my sake, for your sake, for Jim’s sake, give something like this a try.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s right.

Matt Easton:
This is the type of content that we’re trying to put out to be helpful in your life. This costs you nothing and it will reward you everything, you just have to trust me on.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
You know, it’s funny, you said it costs you nothing. If you don’t do it and you don’t have a program at least like this, it costs you everything. It costs you your time, your life, your ability to make more money and provide for your families. To do, it costs you nothing, but to not do it, it costs you your world.

Matt Easton:
Yeah. How many people out there are watching this right now and need to take a look at themselves in the mirror and go, Well, you know what? Yesterday I didn’t make any calls and I remember thinking I didn’t make any calls because interest rates are so high, and nobody wants to buy from me because … Now, what if you just said, I make the calls regardless.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s right.

Matt Easton:
If interest rates are 2%, I make calls. If interest rates are 20%, I make calls. And let the chips fall where they may. It’s a much better way to just do the work that you need to do, no matter what the weather is outside.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s right. That’s right. And stay away from those toxic individuals that may be in your life.

Matt Easton:
Yeah.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
They may be close to you, they might be relatives, they might be friends of yours.

Matt Easton:
Yes.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Misery, loves misery. And get away from those individuals in your life and stick to a plan like this. And it’s almost a hundred percent chance that you’re going to succeed.

Matt Easton:
And I get miserable, but I still do put my sheet every day.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
We all do. But at least that something like that brings you back to the center. It says, Hey, focus on the things that matter. Right?

Matt Easton:
Correct, correct. But we only get one lap around this track you all, and those hours from like 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, those are sacred hours.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s right.

Matt Easton:
I’m not asking you to micromanage, but there’s probably about 20 things that you need to do in that nine hour block. Make a sheet with your 20 things and make sure you do them.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
That’s right. I love it. I love it, I’m using it myself.
Matt Easton, Sales Trainer, Consultant, Founder of Easton University. Check this guy out on TikTok and social media, you’re going to love what you see. That’s how we came across him, and we’ve been so happy that he’s agreed to join us on the shows. We get so much out of it, so do our viewers. So Matt, thank you so much for joining us once again on the show, we very much appreciate it.
For those people that want to learn more about Easton University, just go online. I mean, you’re not going to be sorry. This is something that you can do from your own home. This might be something for business owners that I’m talking to out there. Maybe this is just what your team needs right now. Maybe it needs this every day. If you spend a little bit of money, you can make a whole lot of money by changing the hearts and minds of your staff, and specifically your sales people. Because that’s really the fuel that’s going to drive your business. So Matt, again, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

Matt Easton:
Thank you so, so much, Jim. I hope we’ve made some changes with a few people and improved their lives/

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Oh, I think you have, I think you have.

Matt Easton:
Thank you. Thank you, Jim.

Jim Fitzpatrick:
Thanks.

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