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

Wayne Baird is the owner the The Alternative Board Hawkes Bay. You can contact Wayne on 021 273 9496, [email protected] or connect with him on LinkedIn .