TIME WASTER #14 of 15: Taking Too Many Notes

The average sales rep spent a surprising 7.5 minutes after every call making notes. He or she usually recapped the conversation, scheduled follow-up events and tasks and summarized e-mails, faxes, and proposals sent.

Many reps recorded unimportant information. We recommend recording information that:

• Provides a memory link back to the discussion;
• Records action items with associated date and time information;
• Clearly notes elements of a needs analysis or qualification. 

Rather than re-typing information sent to the customer in the notes, simply link the actual emails, faxes, and proposals to the customer record in the database. Not only will you have a copy of the actual document, you will drastically reduce the amount of time spent in note-taking.

 

Best Practice: Invest in the systems that allow sales reps to tie copies of information sent to the customer directly to the customer record. Encourage the reps to practice typing notes and linking information throughout the phone conversation to reduce time spent after the conversation taking notes by as much as 75%.

Author: Ken Krogue | Google+
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