The essentials of time management

BY PETER SCHOR
Showroom specialist

I am hoping that every person who receives The Wholesaler magazine will read and devour this article as 75% of the article pertains to all, not just showroom, people.

The #1 most profound time management tip to increase time and reduce stress: “You will never, ever, ever, ever, get caught up!” 

Every day many things repeat themselves such as showering, getting dressed, eating, food shopping, the phone ringing and so forth. Get the picture? This means, no matter what you do and how many extra hours you put in, you will never get caught up! I want you to ponder deeply what this means to you before you move on to the next paragraph -- or while you are on the way home in your car tonight. For almost 75% of the readers who ponder this, you will reduce your stress levels and increase the space for more time! Stress cuts down on your effectiveness to manage your time.

10 tips for getting more done in less time

• Prepare next day daily list. At the end of a given day, prepare a written list of things for tomorrow. Your subconscious mind works while you sleep. You will also sleep more soundly.
• Schedule your time. This will reduce stress and will make you feel in control and organized.
• Take time to sit and think. When I read the biographies of some of the most successful people, they had a tendency to go to bed by 10 p.m. or 11 p.m., and rise at 5 a.m. and think, plan and meditate from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
• Organize filing system. Whether at work or home, I suggest using an  A to Z file system. I  am personally convinced the desk drawer that takes file folders and pendaflex is meant to have this A to Z file for most of things you can’t decide what to do with, like new product literature. A recent study showed we spent as much as 30% of the time looking for something.
• Quickly process the stuff that hits your in-box. I always liked to use the acronym raft with any piece of paper that crossed my desk. (R=Refer it to another; A=Take Action; F=File it; T=Trash it.) Remember that procrastination is the enemy.
• Work at work and do “home” stuff at home. Keeping work and home duties separated helps you be happy and more productive.
• Keep your desk clean. Bluntly, whoever said, “A clean desk is the sign of a sick mind,” was simply rationalizing his or her own sloppiness and disorganization. You can get more things done with a clean desk. You don’t waste time looking for things.
• Use your time wisely. Computers, cell phones and palm pilots have certainly helped you utilize your time.
• Use your car time wisely.  Listening to motivational, inspirational and time management cds or tapes is an effective way to stay on the cutting edge.
• Think creatively on shortening things that eat your time. Simple example: E-mailable or faxable written directions to your location. Also, say no to excessive commitments.

Time management, stress and written goals are all related

I want to relate to you that the most important thing in time management is to have a clearly written defined set of goals. Here are the most important parts of the dynamics of goal setting:

• Clear specific goals
• Clear written plan
• Make a list
• Set priorities -- 80/20 rule;  A, B, C, and D
• Concentration of power -- Steven Covey’s book First Things First
• Overcome procrastination
• Keep your life balanced.

I cannot over-emphasized the importance to you of having written goals. You can’t hit the target if you can’t see it! Failure to plan is planning to fail! In my first 10 years in our industry, I spent more time planning my vacations than planning my goals.

In the showroom, I have collected some of the best tips on time management from the top producing showroom professionals in our industry. You will find almost all of the below information covered comprehensively in my showroom columns in The Wholesaler’s February 2005 issue, page 54, and March 2005 issue, page 48.

Here are some of the tips:

• Qualifying clients:  The #1 most important process to control time and create results. How can two people work the same amount of hours and yet one person produces 10 times more gross profit and volume than the other in the same marketplace. Trust me when I say, I know or trained plumbing and decorative plumbing and hardware showroom people that produce $300K to $600K monthly in almost all major markets around the use.  Please go back and read my columns in the February and March 2005 issues. If you don’t have them, email me, and I will send you PDFs on these gems. That is if you serious about increasing your sales and gross profit margins!
• 10-80-10 rule. Not everyone who comes to your showroom is meant to be sold. Focus on the 80% in the middle and forget the 10% on either side. Some of the 10% clients on one side should be referred to The Big Box while the other 10% side may be clients that will never ever be satisfied or claim the products sold are missing parts or cannot be installed.
• Charting traffic hours and patterns. Take two weeks of showroom hours with no holidays before or after and keep track of the exact time people come to your showroom. Then add up the quantity of people who come in and divide by two weeks (working days). You will find out what time to do quotes and when to expect heavy traffic. Yes, I know there is the exception to the rule, where 10 people come in five minutes before closing time.
• Scheduling appointments. Scheduling the times to have product selection meetings with your client at “your” slowest traffic times. Remember, you must stay in control of your time.
• Showroom flyer. How does your showroom work? Every showroom should have a marketing sheet available to explain the details of your showroom, for example, the days, hours, plans by appointment, years in business, and so forth.
• Silent sales aids.  Many showrooms use a library (visual books) near a plan time so some clients can make their own discoveries without taking up your time. Some of these books, such as Kasmar Publications Baths by Professionals and Trends Publications Baths, can be short-term loaned out by securing it with a credit card. This ensures you that many clients will return the books to you to tear up the held charge slip and you get to speak to them.
• Technical information files.  Everything you have on your showroom floor should have a technical roughing sheet in an easy to access file cabinet.

If you are severely time-challenged like most of society, and are willing to consider time management more deeply,  I highly recommend three possible things: 

• Steven’s Covey’s Book First Things First is a classic
• Brian Tracy’s books and tapes on time management are right on the money of today’s fast pace
• I conduct live and teleclass/webinar time management  programs.

Quick tips: New habit formations such as time management take 21 days in repetition to change or add. Promise yourself and others you will do it. Start with one thing -- don’t change it all at once. My favorite time management related tip saying is: Life is a journey, not a destination. Enjoy and have fun on the way to getting results and reaching goals.

Who’s reading the article?

Please send me any question(s) on  the biggest problems, challenges and obstacles that keep you back from producing better results for you and your showroom? I will take the time to answer you. I have solutions of which many came from the most successful showrooms in our industry. For the first 35 readers that respond via e-mail or fax to me, you will receive a free copy of my book Pillars of Success, which is about revealing the success secrets of several of the most prosperous people in business today. The book includes chapters from Alexander Haig Jr, former Secretary of State; Pat Summitt, winningest coach in NCAA basketball history; and other business visionaries and leaders.

K/BIS 2007 is coming soon

I will be speaking on showroom at the K/BIS 2007 NKBA Conference Breakfast Program on Wednesday, May 9, from 8:30 a.m.-10:15 a.m. at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The room is still to be determined. The title of the program is “Tips and Secrets of Today’s Most Successful Product Selling Showrooms.” You can buy a ticket for the event on www.kbis.com or if space is still open, when you arrive at K/BIS. The event is open to plumbing wholesalers, wholetailers and retailers. Trust me when I say, I will be “giving it all away” on the most valuable current information and from 20+ years of educating in showrooms and traveling across the U.S. and Canada.

    

Peter Schor, president of Dynamic Results Inc., is an educator, motivational speaker, consultant, coach and writer in our industry and many diverse others. For the past 17 years, he has conducted 100 educational programs yearly, including 34 industry conventions. Schor has great expertise in the field of showrooms and has won many industry awards. He also works with manufacturers in the field of sales, marketing and public relations. Schor has a new book called Pillars of Success, published by Insight Publishing Company. He can be reached at 1491 Ivy Arbor, Lincoln, CA 95648, tel 916/408-5346, fax 916/408-5899, e-mail pschor@dynamicresultsinc.com or website www.dynamicresultsonline.com.