Picnics. Amusement parks. Vacations. It’s hard to focus on quotas and KPIs when the kids are off from school and the sunshine beckons. But as this salesforce blog points out, there are things that you can do to keep the summer season from turning into a summer slump.
If you’re a manager…
Communicate Expectations: Your reps have weekends and vacations on the mind and you have work that needs to get done. Help your reps stay focused. Give them clear direction. Let them know the deadlines and priorities, what they need to do. That way, less is likely to slip.
Respect the OOO Message: Both you and your reps need an opportunity to step away from work and reconnect with friends and family, if only to avoid burning out. If you want reps to return to their desks more energized and productive than ever, don’t badger them with emails.
If you’re anyone who needs to stay focused…
Give yourself deadlines: A to-do list without deadlines is a recipe for procrastination. Even a self-imposed deadline is better than none. Do you want to get that project done before vacation? Tell your boss and team about your made-up deadline and ask them to hold you accountable.
Turn up the tunes: Today’s open workspaces aren’t exactly designed for focus. Get a pair of headphones, put them on and hunker down. Pro tip: avoid your favorite music or songs you’ll sing along to. Your goal is to tune out the distractions, not create another one.
Take breaks: According to studies cited in Harvard Business Review, humans are more effective when only work 90- to 120-minute stretches. Pushing beyond that leads to a drop-off in productivity. When break time comes, leave your desk. Take a walk. Grab a bite to eat. Maybe try to fit meetings into break times.
Put down the phone: You’re at your desk getting OOO auto-replies while your friends are posting pictures from beaches, campsites and cruises to Alaska. This examination of mobile technology habits shows that more time on the phone more impulsive behavior, less time actually working.
If you’re looking to improve year-round productivity…
Try a Remote Salesforce Strategy: Work is slow in the summer. Your reps would love the opportunity to work from outside. If you go remote and sales activities continue, the CRM stays up to date, despite the distractions of sunshine and beaches, the remote team may work for your team.
Test New Technologies: Summer’s a good time to test technologies you’ve been thinking of implementing. If small scale implementations deliver on their promise during the summer, you can be comfortable rolling them out when they can really make a difference.
Consider testing Rollio. It uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to turn a rep’s spoken instructions into CRM updates. It’s shown to dramatically improve sales productivity, giving reps 100 extra hours a year to sell, and managers 3X more data.
And that can cure the summertime, wintertime, springtime and autumn blues, too. Click here for a demo.
COMMENTS