How irritating is that clock? I’m freaking out just typing this blog as that damned thing is twitching like Kramer on meth. But I know you’re hanging on my every word so I will persist so as not to let you down. (Gee, I’m a swell guy.)

I found this clock and knew I had to throw it into a post to illustrate the Merely Urgent vs. the Truly Important.

Most of the activities that take up the minutes and the hours of our days and the days and the weeks of our lives fall into the merely urgent category.

Case in point: the ringing telephone.

You would not believe how liberating it is to ignore the ringing telephone.

“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!”

When I first learned that little “trick” (why does a grown man have to “learn” that the phone is there for my convenience, not the callers?) my work life became much more enjoyable because it became much more productive.

“But, Wes, I’m in sales. I’m in Customer Service. I’m in Support. I HAVE to answer the phone!!!!!!”

Now I’ll get some grief about this but unless you’re in some type of life or death situation or support clients in those situations most of your clients can wait 5 minutes, or even 5 hours, before you get back to them AS LONG AS you do get back to them and you have the answers they need to resolve their situation.

How does this apply to sales? If your phone is ringing with prospects then you have the world by the cajones. Life is good. Take all the calls you want when you want them and start cashing checks.

However, even that could get old because your prospects may be calling because you are the lowest price or you’re having a sale or they want a quote or, worse, a proposal, so it’s not really a sale but a potential sale. Then the game begins.

Good prospects will leave a message.

Better prospects will fill out a form.

Great prospects will leave a message, fill out a form, complete a questionnaire HONESTLY and schedule a time to meet with you AT YOUR LOCATION that fits into YOUR calendar.

That’s what happens when you focus on the Truly Important and stop hopping around like a twitchy little bastard.

What I use is a little, affordable, hosted program by TimeDriver, www.TimeDriver.com, to schedule all of my appointments.

I use a Mac so I synchronize my iCal with my Google Calendar. I then synchronize my Google Calendar with TimeDriver and now I NEVER chase prospects!

When a prospect wants to talk they hit the Contact Us page here on The Sales Whisperer and their info goes into my  Infusionsoft application, which sends them a confirmation email then asks them to follow a link to my Time Driver account to see my calendar.

Along with that invitation are instructions on how to use the application (very simple), how to contact me at the appointed time and what 3 things they’d like to discuss during our time together.

What this does is:

• Frees me up being a twitchy bastard, dropping what I’m doing so I can answer the phone.
• Frees me up from playing phone tag or email tag asking, “What day and time work for you? No. I’m getting my bunions done that day. How about the next day for coffee? No? You’re getting your back waxed. Bummer. How about the following day for…?”
• Positions me as the expert. They are are reaching out to me. They are following my instructions. They are answering my questions. They are calling me at the appointed time.

And sales is all about positioning.

Are you positioned for sales growth? If you could use a gentle nudge or a swift kick in the ass I encourage you to check out my new & improved, re-designed and re-engineered, cleaner and meaner, sweeter and neater…WHATEVER! Check out the new Inner Circle Silver program I’m relaunching Monday May 3rd.

You have a 30-day money back guarantee so click on over and let’s get to work on the important. Leave the nonsensical bullsh*t, which most of business is, behind.

You and your family and your bank account will be glad you did.

Wishing you all the success you have the guts to grab.