It is always frustrating to me when I plan my schedule so that I have time to comfortably make my commute from one appointment to another to only have one of the people I’m meeting with either not in their office, running behind with a meeting or otherwise detained so my appointment with them is delayed. While my schedule does have room for comfort in it there is usually not enough room to overcome such delays. I’m let with three options; I can reschedule the meeting for another date, reduce the scope of the meeting or try to rush through the meeting hoping to cover everything on the agenda. Rescheduling the meeting means that I’ve wasted a couple of precious hours of my day, reducing the scope of the meeting will require that a follow-up meeting be scheduled and trying to rush through the meeting causes undue stress and more than likely a meeting that runs over and then requires me to rush through the rest of my day trying to play
catch-up. The last choice is not an option. Lack of planning on your part does not require rushing by me!
What would you decide to do in that situation? Reschedule, condense, or rush? If I’m meeting someone in my office and they were late I’d reschedule as I can always find small projects to fill my time until my next meeting. However, if I’m
meeting at someone’s office I prefer to condense the content of the meeting and schedule a follow-up meeting. If I don’t try to condense the meeting and reschedule instead I will have time that is wasted before my next meeting. Not an
option to me, and besides, the more opportunities I have to meet with a prospective client the higher the odds are that I will get a contract.
A career in sales is difficult but rewarding. If a sales person doesn’t control their meeting schedule they will lose opportunities or worse yet lose their reputation for punctuality. In either case the end results is fewer closings and less income. So it is safe to say that a salespersons career depends heavily upon an appointment management system. When I was first entering the work force a Day Planner was the only option and it had a lot of shortcomings but the most annoying to me were the need to erase and re-enter changes within my schedule and the redundancy of having to write reoccurring appointment into each weeks plan. Now there are several software packages that offer a wide array of options that allow you to link between your office computer, lap top and smart phone. It is easy to rearrange schedules, obtain confirmations for meetings, schedule meetings with multiple individuals and set up reoccurring events. There is some technology that I wish never existed, but my appointment planning software is one piece of technology that I could not live without.
While appointment management software is important to a sales associate, the most important aid to a person just entering the sales workforce is a good mentor. In my industry, commercial real estate, it is required that a sales associate work
under the tutelage of a seasoned professional for several years before that venture out on their own. It is during this mentoring process that the associate learns the sales tools need to be successful. The choice of real estate office and employing broker becomes vitally important as it will be the foundation of sales associate’s career. My suggestion to those now entering into a career in real estate is to interview a large number of firms and employing brokers prior to making a
decision and to remember that an employing broker must oversee the activities of all the associates that work in their office. The larger the number of sales associates the less time the employing broker will have to mentor a new associate. So make your choice wisely.
I sure that other industries’ have the same consideration, but a new entry will not be able to determine this without obtaining several interviews or taking getting meetings with successful sales associates. Other options are to consult school and government placement offices to learn more about your chosen sales field: and, of course, research on the Internet.
If you are looking for a career as a sales associate in real estate in the Denver market, give me a call. Just remember, when you get an appointment be on time, because a lack of planning upon your part does not require rushing by me.
