A recent study that took three years and involved salespeople from 500 companies was funded to identify the keys to sales success. While it surfaced a variety of abilities and skills that we were familiar with, the final conclusion was a surprise.

Face-to-face selling skills, product knowledge, ability to build relationships, and others were given high marks, but the number one critical key to success was:

“Time utilization and planned sales effort.”

In selling at any sales company, this critical factor is even more important.

Consider some of the challenges that you face:

• Large numbers of prospects

• The need to close in 1-2 calls

• The difficulty in sorting out the high-potential customers from smaller users

• Finding and qualifying the decision-maker

• Competition that is intensifying

Most importantly, there is the urgency to constantly seek out new, qualified prospects. Surrounding this complicated process are a variety of interruptions: callbacks, decisions, requests from management, administration, and other unpredictable events.