FM Walsh & Associates Inc.

The Rule of Once

Being effective at sales requires that you be an excellent manager of your time. It means you make your work hours really count. And you can only do this by handling things once. Yes – once. I am talking about paper, voicemail, and email. Taking time to read, look or listen to things more than once is lost time. This really hit home for me when I read “The Ultimate Sales Machine” by Chet Holmes. He states: “If you spend just 15 minutes per day to reread documents or emails, you will waste 97 hours per year where no action is taken.”

Are you kidding me? What could you accomplish with an extra 97 hours a year? So get rid of the clutter and bad habits you are hoarding. Starting today, implement a new rule: If you touch it, take action. Don’t read that email or listen to that voicemail unless you are ready to tackle it. Yes, this will be hard to do in the beginning, but for my clients who have implemented it, they have seen a real jump in profitability and they find they have more free time. So I dare you to try it! Drop me a line and let me know what happens.