Sales people are always looking for ways to be more productive and maximize their time. This is why it's important to plan your calendar in advance, use a sales tracking system and have an organized desk. Sounds easy? Well, it does not have to be! Check our tips for the right sales calendar management.

Why is calendar management so important for sales?

Organizing your schedule allows you to have better control over your day-to-day tasks which leads to increased productivity when you are working on those tasks or projects. It also helps with planning out future appointments in advance as well as having them repeat at regular intervals throughout the month/week etc., like weekly marketing campaigns that need promotion every week rather than doing it as-it-happens.

#1 Find a format that suits you best

To create your own customized monthly sales schedule, you can use the following steps: Create an Excel chart with columns for each day of the week and rows for all days in that month. In each cell, enter one task or event to keep track of on that date. This is where you will write down everything from meetings set up through email to tasks assigned by supervisors or managers at work (or just anything you want). Keep in mind what it is time-wise when you are filling this out—is it morning? Noon? Evening? The goal here is for yourself to have more control over how much attention and focus goes into different things throughout your day/week, so you can adjust it accordingly.

You can also create a schedule of the week ahead so you know when you'll be meeting with who or what your goals are for that day. You can start off by creating monthly calendars and filling them out on paper before moving onto digital planning tools like Google Calendar.

Having a good calendar management procedure in place helps you un-double meetings and have everything under control.

#2 Manage it as a whole

The third tip is that you have to manage your calendar as a whole—not just individual events or meetings. Otherwise, it’s easy for them all to pile up without any clear order and you end up missing deadlines because one event didn’t get its reminder sent out early enough due to lack of attention elsewhere (for example). The more organized things are at the very beginning of the week, when time feels like there is an abundance of hours available.

#3 Don't change your preferences

Take steps to optimize your personal preferences for sales time, and make sure they are in alignment with the best practices of other successful people.

There is no one-size fits all approach when it comes to planning your calendar so you should always take into consideration which actions work well enough for prospects and customers. The key here is that we need a good schedule management procedure in place because if not everything will pile up without any clear order and we’ll end up missing deadlines.

You are the only one who knows when to work best and where you can be most productive. With a heavy workload, it’s not possible to delegate all aspects of your skills away from yourself. Once someone else starts directing when and where you need to be at your sharpest, you start losing rhythm in both your productivity and focus itself.

#4 Nothing works without a plan

The number one rule of successful people is that they have a plan. It can be anything – for example, having an idea and then researching it in order to see if the execution would work out differently than expected. When you’re following your gut instinct without any other input or information, chances are, you might not get what you want (or worse - you'll make mistakes).

In order to organize more effectively we need some form of systemization which will allow us to track where our time goes and keep up with deadlines while making sure there isn't too much stress involved.

#5 Use sales tracking systems

There are many types of sales software out there that might suit different needs depending on how much time they want to spend gathering data versus generating leads. Whatever type works best for you, make sure to input everything into the software as soon as possible after each call -including things such as notes from conversations, contact information, and more. Harmonizely can assist in this process without a doubt.

#6 Plan some time for sales pitches, too

Sales calendar is not only about sales itself - also about pitches and preparing offers.  Schedule research and prep time for upcoming sales pitches. The quickest way to not get a sale is to be unprepared for the meeting.

The best way to keep your calendar balanced with work, life, and everything in between is by keeping it free of commitments that you do not plan on honoring after the first mistake or when circumstances change.

Before an appointment involving a sales pitch, create time on your calendar to research the individual whom you are scheduled to meet as well as their company.

If needed, hire someone else part-time who can do it for you, or use automation systems, such as best call center center software.

The best way?

The best way to organize your sales time is by using a calendar. Create an electronic version of the calendar and write down all appointments, meetings, events, and deadlines - this will allow you to plan ahead and make sure that there are no conflicts with other items on your schedule (which could lead to mistakes).

That's what we can do in Harmonizely.

Key takeaways

  • Planning calendar strategy: Create a sales calendar that includes input from your prospecting document and other sources.
  • Meeting time strategy: Prioritize and plan each meeting based on inputs from the customer or colleague negotiating with you, as well as prioritize customers to visit next week among others.
  • Calendar organizing calls: Input important call information like date, purpose of call, contact information in your calendar app or on paper.