First Hour Of The Day Matters The Most

Time Management Tactics For Higher Success

Do you start your day by checking e-mail?

Or do you meet with staff?

Do you produce something?

Or pick up a phone?

If you're seeking more success, I'd like to propose you start the first hour of your day at work focusing on the most important task on your goal list at that time.

Most important things in the first hour:

I'm not saying to focus on the most time-sensitive, or the squeakiest wheel. Rather, focus on the most important thing to the development of your business.

Try putting the first hour as the most important hour, and do not allow interference with e-mail, telephones, interruptions, and other challenges to stop you from dedicating this time to getting something done.

My latest tactic is to dedicate 50 minutes, then take a 10 minute break. My break is focused, just like the 50 minute time block.

We can't necessarily control time, but we CAN control how we manage the time we have.

Here's to your success!
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Copyright © 1999-2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE.

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Productivity Secrets on ARRiiVE: Innovations in Business Radio

Want to get more out of each day?

Fine-tune your efforts to realize objectives using "The 5 top productivity tips, including the 80/20 rule," on this episode of the ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business show!

When: 2:00 PM PST / 5:00 PM EST on July 30, 2008

Details: Dial in at 724-444-7444 (enter 37798# 1 #) to question Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions, or to listen to the show.

You can also text or download the show at http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/37798. It's simple and easy to join in - see you there!

The show is now recorded! Listen online:

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Copyright © 1999-2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE.

Selling Tip: Don't Talk Past The Sale

Today I pitched a solution to a potential customer (couple) who, in my gut, felt like they were ready to buy. However, I noticed that as the clock ticked off the seconds, and seconds turned into minutes, and minutes turned into an hour past the close, that the potential buyer went from LOVING my solution to being AFRAID of how they were going to handle the budgeted cost of my solution. It happens that fast!

One thing is for sure, if your client drops out of the "ether" effect of loving you and/or loving your service, your odds of completing the sale drop significantly. Certainly, once the client goes into "fear mode" their "fight or flight" life protection response system will over-rule their desire to purchase your service.

Think I'm wrong? One industry I've consulted and sold for, timeshare resort sales, has performed specific tests to determine the window of opportunity, and found that once you've pitched your solution, you basically have about twenty (20) to thirty (30) minutes of optimum selling time where the agreement is most likely to happen. Once you go beyond that window, your opportunity of success drops, by huge percentages, rather quickly.

Do you know what the opportunity of close success is for your industry?

If you haven't figured it out, figure out how to be more efficient, at the least. Because one thing is for sure: once you go past the window of opportunity, you may never get that opportunity again.

Take advantage of time and use it wisely and you're sure to close more sales.
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Copyright © 1999-2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE.

When Are We Most Productive?

I recently read a post on productivity and considering the natural cycles of society, it makes sense that we're likely the most productive during the same hours that coincide the best times to post a blog post or post an article to our website.

How can I base this? Because this is when people are in the most focused, intense "work" mode.

Amazingly enough, the best time to post a blog post is 10:30 a.m. PST to 2:00 p.m. PST Tuesday through Friday. I'll stretch that a tad, but based upon this I'll state the peak productivity time, in general, for employees and workers is between 10:00 a.m. PST and 3:00 p.m. PST.

What I'm talking about is how to maximize things that so many people struggle with, ranging from time management to productivity skills, doing first things first, managing the "7 Habits of Highly Successful People", and other time/management/productivity concerns.

Considering the schedule I've proposed, I have to ask: are you taking LONG LUNCHES? If you are, you're cutting into your most productive time during the day. I'd suggest that you either eat a lighter lunch or take a late lunch, that way you'll be maximizing your highest productivity hours in each week.

If you've failed to consider the most productive hours of a day, and claim that late night is your top time (I've been guilty) or claim that morning is also your most productive time (been guilty of that, too), well, here's the wake up call: most people are in work mode during Tuesday through Friday. They start to "check out" at 2:00 p.m. because many have kids they need to tend to. School schedules usually release children around 2:00 pm or 3:00 pm, and amazingly, this is also when productivity begins to wane among adults, too. After 5:00 p.m., we're thinking about dinner. After dinner, we relax and digest our food. During the weekend, we're relaxing and having fun from our hard work during the week. However, I will also point out that if we use Internet data for our assumption, then we need to consider that many people are East Coast-based and therefore 2:00 p.m. PST is 5:00 p.m. (EST) to them.

Peak Productive Time?

When is your peak productive time? If you're like many others, you probably take a half hour to settle into your work. In addition, you probably unwind for the last 15 minutes each day, too. On top of that, you'll need at least two 10 minute breaks, and at least 30 minutes for lunch. Take all of that away, you're probably going to have your peak productivity start to kick in around 8:30 a.m. and then wind down around 4:45 p.m., if you maintain an 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. schedule.

Make the most out of it!

The 80/20 rule will apply, too, so that peak time during the middle of the day is critical to your ongoing success. Don't waste it! Your best time for a meeting is likely on Wednesday or Thursday right around NOON. So, make the most out of these time slots!

Maximize the time when you can reach the most people, impact them the most, and focus your efforts to be your most productive self between Tuesday and Friday between the time frame of 10:30 a.m. PST and 5:00 p.m. EST. Schedule your most important meeting each week at Noon on Thursday. That is when you'll get the biggest bang for your time slot.

When you practice solid time management skills, you will fare better. Ideas I have to refresh for you with this article include:

Time Management Tips:

1. Focus on one thing at a time.
2. Complete a task, then move on to your next item on your priority list.
3. Start with one global or long-term goal, then a short-term easy goal, each day. This will make sure you don't avoid the most pressing thing, and also ensure you don't ignore your long-term goals, either.
4. Set a goal for the amount of time to break, eat, and break throughout the day.
5. Don't get side-tracked with items off of your list.

When we instill a sense of discipline into our work day, we get more things done. See if renewing your focus on your peak hours, and by putting your list of things-to-do into the core of that time-frame, you're bound to be more successful.
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Copyright © 1999-2008 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIBE.

Plan For Success

I'm always amazed when I talk with a business leader and find out they don't have a business plan or sales plan. Why? Because, they just failed the most important step in ensuring success with their business:

Develop a plan!

A former manager of mine, Dick Boren, used to put a slide up on the overhead in every sales meeting. It read the following words: "Fail to plan, plan to fail."

Now, while that slide is perhaps against the Law of Attraction (why put the words fail on a slide in the first place?) it does highlight a basic truth in selling: you must plan to succeed if you are going to increase your success. As a law of attraction coach, I recommend another quote Dick used even more:

"Plan your work, work your plan. Measure your success."

See, because, when you have a plan for success, you're much more likely to succeed, because you've made a written agreement for success. People tend to honor written agreements more than verbal agreements. Why do you think that out of 100 graduating students, the 3% who wrote down their goals achieved more than the other 97%? This statistic came from a study of graduating students at Harvard University over fifty years ago. In the study, they found that the 3% who wrote down their goals were wealthier than the other 97%, combined. Not only that, but they were also more content. Big surprise, huh?

I recently read that less than 1% of Americans write down there goals. While I haven't yet substantiated that statistic, perhaps that might explain why Americans have so much debt! Land of the free? It's hard to be free when you're buried under a mountain of debt. I've been on both sides of that picture and I'd much rather be debt-free, with money in the bank, than fighting debt collectors.

So, if you're considering how to succeed, maybe you're nodding and realizing, "Hmm.. Scott's right! I need a plan."

Do you have a plan for business success?

If you're writing a sales plan, you'll need some basic elements, which include:

1. Vision. What are you trying to accomplish in your selling efforts?
2. Goals. What numbers, strategies, and basic goals do you wish to accomplish?
3. Company numbers. I've always found a good rule of thumb is to take other people's expectations of me and double them. Why? Because, if I miss MY goals, I'll still HIT THEIR GOALS. And, that's all upper managers seem to care about. You can even do this for yourself, just pretend you're a manager. Give yourself a quota. Then put on your salesperson hat and double the quota! Write down the new number as your goal.
4. Know your territory. If you're going after a sales territory, chances are high that you probably are either organized by a geography, product offering, or vertical market. Out of all the strategies, I've always found that organizing outbound telephone or email calls by vertical market to be wisest, as then you're speaking with the same vernacular during your calls. For example, problems managing the flow of paper in healthcare will carry over from one hospital to another. Language can be quite different between prospects, so by organizing by vertical you can lower the impact of this challenge. However, when making outbound face-to-face calls, it is wisest to organize by geography. This is to limit the cost and time-impact between calls. So, use both strategies to effectiveness if you wish to maximize your time both inside and outside while selling.
5. Know your customer. If you were to ask me the single most important skill a salesperson might possess, I'd have to say "The art asking intelligent questions and listening to the answers for meaning." How many salespeople are great at telling you all about their product? How many salespeople are great at asking intelligent questions, listening, and then converting that knowledge into a solution for the customer? The latter is the salesperson I want to hire.
6. Know your product. Okay, so you did a good job questioning your prospect. You listened to their problem. But when it comes time to describe your solution to their problem, you need to know what you offer, and specifically how it relates to what THEY need. I've been shocked at the number of times in my life when a salesperson either "winged it" or outright "lied" when they didn't know the answer to a question. Don't be lazy. Do your homework, know your product. Especially the features, functions, and benefits that will apply to your prospect's needs. Don't leave it up to them to figure it out. Make it easy for your prospect to buy from you.
7. Have a gifting strategy. Gifting is the #1 most powerful way to build relationships quickly.
8. Have a follow-up strategy: Following-up is the #1 most powerful way to get remembered and strengthen the relationships you build.
9. Have a plan to build value, differentiate, and surprise your clients on EVERY call and in every meeting. This is the #1 most important rule in executing sales calls.
10. Have an action plan. Which accounts, contacts, and strategy will you utilize for each prospect? You ought to at least define your strategic plan for your top ten prospects.

Similar techniques may be used in a business plan, although you'll add in competitive reviews, marketing strategies, market segmentation, financial analysis, and more.

Do you have a plan for personal success?

I even suggest to people to write down their personal goals each year. If you're running a business, evaluate your goal achievements on a monthly and weekly basis. Don't just wait for the quarterly review, as that might be too long of time-lapse between review cycles.

Last, if you need help with a plan, seek out professional assistance. My firm, ARRiiVE Business Solutions, offers executives help writing business plans to raise funding, business plans to improve strategy, sales plans, and personal growth plans. When you work with a professional, you cut the bull from "template" business plans you can buy. You eliminate the generalized answers and fluff you might get from your SBDC (small business development center) and software templates. Many software business planning systems use a "fill-in-the-blank" type of approach to generating business plans. I don't recommend fill-in-the-blank business plans. They are really obvious to someone familiar with reading plans. I use a template, yes, but I custom-write each plan for each client. Why? Because I find that I don't have as many holes. And, even more than that, I don't get FLUFF in my plans. You really don't want a plan if it is full of guesses and generalizations.

Get a plan that offers specific actions, dates, and ways to measure results against the plan to ensure you succeed with your objectives and strategies.

Last, remember, if you plan your work, you plan to succeed. Plan your work, and work your plan. Measure your results. And celebrate your wins! Life is too short not to have a little fun along the way. After all, success is in the act of doing, perhaps as much or more than the act of accomplishment.

The quality of your plan for success directly related to the quality of your results!

If you don't have a solid (quality) plan for success, you might be blocking your development. Either write one yourself; or, better yet, hire an expert to help you plan for your success. Watch how many positives will be drawn to you when you are working from a well-written plan. You can succeed. You will succeed. Make this your mantra. Make a plan. Write it down. Tweak it, work it, measure it, and celebrate it when you win.
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Post by Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions.

ARRiiVE Business Solutions helps executives improve sales, launch products and services, and build dynamic, cross-functional collaborative teams. For more information, contact info (at)ARRiiVE (dot) com or call us at 1 (805) 459-6939.

Copyright © 2007 by ARRiiVE Business Solutions. All Rights Reserved. You may republish this article only if you publish in WHOLE with the COPYRIGHT and ALL ACTIVE LINKS intact.

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Time Wasters in Corporate America?

Every now and then an article comes up that catches my eye. Today, an article on wasting time in corporate environments lit up - because I hate wasting time. Time is the one resource we can never get back once it is gone.

The interesting thing about this report, sponsored and published by AOL and Salary.com, is the disparity between the amount of time employers (or HR) thought employees waste, and the amount of time employees actually admitted to wasting.

The report, originally published in 2006, quotes the following:

Average hrs. American worker actually wastes is 1.70 hrs.
Average hrs. American workers are expected to waste by HR .94 hrs.
Difference between expected and actual time wasted = .76 hrs.

That is 197 hrs. per year wasted MORE than HR people think is going to be wasted. Multiplying that out by the Average American worker's annual salary $16.86 per hour = $3,321 x the total number of American workers (non-farm) 135 million = $448.4 Billion cost to companies.

Wow. Okay, does it really matter? To a lessor extent, in every company, yes, it does.
Time wasted, to me, means one of three things:

1. Employee is bored, lazy, ADD, or underutilized.
2. Manager is not paying attention to how employee spends their time.
3. Employer is not structured to empower their employees.

Number one is somewhat rectifyable. Even lazy people will work harder if they are motivated. It is up to an employer to utilize their people's skillsets. Although, if you're an employee reading this and you're just not giving your best because, well, no reason at all, then shame on you. Get it together, work hard, do your best no matter where you are. But, the reality is, I think most employees actually DO want to contribute.

So, let's look at #2 and #3. #2 Manager is not paying attention to how employee spends their time. Well, if the manager is wasting time, too, this may be part of the problem. But, deeper than that, managers ought to know, at least to some extent, what employees are up to. There are ways to know: telephone reports, cell phone expenses, lunch expenses, customer reports, one-on-one meetings, etc. If a manager doesn't look at these to know that (a) the employee is actually doing work, and (b) the employee is putting the production or not, then the manager is in the wrong job. A manager who is motivating their team and utilizing their talents to the fullest will generally be the most successful manager. So, aim at ways to motivate and empower your team so they can make you the successful manager you want to be.

Last, #3 - Employer is not structured to empower their employees. This is the problem most organizations in America are struggling with today. EMPOWERMENT. Why? Well, they structure like a pyramid -- almost all of them. And, pyramid structures are great for creating an army of robots, but they aren't great for enabling people to be creative and innovative.

The solution to that problem? Structure in a new way. We're working on a structure enabling Semantic Collaboration to occur. Semantic Collaboration is a term we coined after reading about Web 3.0 Search becoming "semantic search" and relating what we're doing to build collaborative teams. Semantic Collaboration builds dynamic teams based upon skills and abilities rather than job description and title. It is a refreshing way to treat people. And, from our research, people respond with more innovation and higher productivity when semantic collaboration is embraced by an organization. So, for many organizations, structuring more creatively would allow far more innovation and productivity. I've published an article on a model of collaboration I call the Diamond-Circle model, which is the first step to implementing semantic collaboration in your organization.

The last key to avoiding waste of time is to promote an atmosphere of collaboration, contribution, and creativity. People ought to be able to waste *some* time if it is how they recharge their batteries, create friendships that allow higher quality of work, and build teams. So, that type of time may actually not be a waste, at all.

If you're in HR and wondering how to deal with these challenges, reach out to organizations focused on improving structure, process, and collaboration. If you're in upper management, avoid focusing solely on numbers. People ought to be rated for their human factor, too. But consider structuring from the inside-out, rather than top-down, to enable more collaboration and go to the "hot-hand" to meet the challenges and opportunities for your organization.

Last, if you're an employee, for pete's sake, either find a job that you love, or create one that you won't want to waste your time away -- after all, your time is your own. And, as Shakespeare once wrote, "to thine own self be true."