1,440 – Why is it an important number?

Many years ago, when I was a young 20 something year old, I was offered a role as an Insurance Consultant for a well-known New Zealand company.  Working from an office in the capital city, Wellington and being a new resident there I didn’t have a great network or access to a great database.  I learnt very quickly that the telephone book was a good source of potential prospects and even had the address and phone numbers alongside the names.  They were in alphabetical order to make it easier for me.  So, armed with a pen, paper, ruler and telephone I started my journey to build a client base and to earn myself a substantially better income than I’d previously experienced.

The company also provided me with a folder that had “Daily Diary” written in bold letters on the front.  I was shown what to do with it. Record everything that I did. That was – phone calls, discovery meetings, presentations, sales and non-sales made.  Then with every sale I would record my commissions earned and would keep a rolling target of my income over time.

After almost a year I had an accurate and detailed enough record to understand exactly what my time was worth.  How many calls it took to get an appointment.  How many appointments to get a sale and so on.  I was able to understand my conversion rates and where I could find improvements.  Most of all though I knew that no matter what the activity or the result I was creating an income from doing the right things at the right times.  Even when a potential prospect said no to me on the phone I knew it was making me $50 every call regardless of the outcome.  I set goals to improve that number.  I was able to budget well to achieve my desired income and I knew exactly how many calls I had to make every day.

This was the best ever start I could have to my sales career.  It has served me extremely well running large teams of sales people.  Setting budgets and goals for the companies I owned or worked with and ensuring I met or exceeded targets.

So why is 1440 an important number?  Well every day has 24 hours and every hour has 60 minutes.  There are 1440 minutes in a day.  It’s a finite number and you can’t create more time.

When you know what each minute is worth to you in business and you have a plan then you’ll see that every minute counts.  Make the best use of your time and keep a good record of what you do. This will change the way you think about those who say no in sales because the no’s are still making you money.

Wayne Baird – The Alternative Board Hawkes Bay