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Not Enough Time? Hire Help
Ask Chuck
By Chuck Piola, For The Bulletin
As I read the “Ask Chuck” column from Nov. 8, “The War Never Stops,” additional recommendations came to mind that I think will be helpful. Whether you’re a sole proprietor, a sales rep for a larger entity, or just looking to become more productive, you need to look beyond yourself for solutions. You need to step back and look at your limitations.
Time, for example, is a precious commodity for all of us. Our calendars, both work and personal, are jammed. It seems there’s never enough time to get things done. It was Dirty Harry in “Magnum Force” who coined the phrase, “A man’s got to know his limitations.” Usually limitations are things we don’t like to do, but are compelled to do as part of our routine. We tend to put those things off, to procrastinate, because we don’t like to do them. But then they pile up, cause us more stress and anguish, and, ultimately, cause us to lose focus. Everything becomes a pain.
I know this because it happens to me. I try to smooth things out and that works for a few months, but then I revert back and the aggravation cycle begins anew. Then, I read an article that I wrote about this very thing, and it really drives me nuts.
Years ago when I was selling, my manager suggested that I hire someone to make appointments for me. I had many concerns about this idea. First of all, how would I afford it? Secondly, appointment making was very difficult, even for me face-to-face, so, how was someone going to do this over the phone? Thirdly, how was I going to structure compensation for this type of work and structure the work itself? My manager convinced me that it could be done. So, I put an ad in the paper looking for part-time help. I was very clear. I wanted someone who could work from home two days a week making appointments for an account executive/salesman. The ad instructed interested parties to call me between seven and nine o’clock in the evening.
I received 30 phone calls. Since I had already been trained to screen calls over the phone, I was able to whittle the selection down to ten. I scheduled interviews with each; two didn’t show. Out of the eight, I hired a gem. She was a woman in her late twenties, a legal secretary who had just had a baby and wanted to earn some money from home. She was sharp as a tack and proactive. Need I say more?
I paid her a percentage of my commission for all sales that resulted from the appointments she made. Because of her, I doubled my productivity. She was so good that I would get messages at the end of a sales presentation saying that my office just called and my assistant needed to speak with me. The reason she called was because she knew my entire schedule and where I was, and she was making appointments for me either in the same building or around the corner. It was great. It motivated me. It helped me deal with something that was a total pain but had to be done—making appointments.
Granted, I continued to cold call and make appointments on my own while I was in the field, but what she provided was an additional five to eight appointments a week that I turned into two or three additional sales.
That first year with my assistant, I was top salesman out of 13 in New England and I was 11th overall out of 165 in the company. Taking that leap to hire someone put me at a new level of thinking outside the box. And, it cost me nothing because she was making a percentage of money that I might not have otherwise made. She did well, too, and was very happy to earn a decent salary without leaving her baby.
All this resulted because I did something I was uncomfortable with. I had started to think it wouldn’t work, that I wouldn’t find the right person, be able to pay them, structure the pay, blah, blah, blah. In the final analysis, it doesn’t make a difference. You just go do it. Find somebody to help do your books, to help you with the minutia.
You can email Chuck Piola business-related questions at askchuck@thebulletin.us. You may also mail correspondence to Ask Chuck, PO Box 212, Swarthmore, Pa 19081. For more information about Chuck Piola visit www.ChuckPiola.com. To book Mr. Piola as a speaker or to find out about cooperative marketing opportunities with Going In Cold, visit PR Coordinates at www.PRCoordinates.com or call 610-338-0229.
Time, for example, is a precious commodity for all of us. Our calendars, both work and personal, are jammed. It seems there’s never enough time to get things done. It was Dirty Harry in “Magnum Force” who coined the phrase, “A man’s got to know his limitations.” Usually limitations are things we don’t like to do, but are compelled to do as part of our routine. We tend to put those things off, to procrastinate, because we don’t like to do them. But then they pile up, cause us more stress and anguish, and, ultimately, cause us to lose focus. Everything becomes a pain.
I know this because it happens to me. I try to smooth things out and that works for a few months, but then I revert back and the aggravation cycle begins anew. Then, I read an article that I wrote about this very thing, and it really drives me nuts.
Years ago when I was selling, my manager suggested that I hire someone to make appointments for me. I had many concerns about this idea. First of all, how would I afford it? Secondly, appointment making was very difficult, even for me face-to-face, so, how was someone going to do this over the phone? Thirdly, how was I going to structure compensation for this type of work and structure the work itself? My manager convinced me that it could be done. So, I put an ad in the paper looking for part-time help. I was very clear. I wanted someone who could work from home two days a week making appointments for an account executive/salesman. The ad instructed interested parties to call me between seven and nine o’clock in the evening.
I received 30 phone calls. Since I had already been trained to screen calls over the phone, I was able to whittle the selection down to ten. I scheduled interviews with each; two didn’t show. Out of the eight, I hired a gem. She was a woman in her late twenties, a legal secretary who had just had a baby and wanted to earn some money from home. She was sharp as a tack and proactive. Need I say more?
I paid her a percentage of my commission for all sales that resulted from the appointments she made. Because of her, I doubled my productivity. She was so good that I would get messages at the end of a sales presentation saying that my office just called and my assistant needed to speak with me. The reason she called was because she knew my entire schedule and where I was, and she was making appointments for me either in the same building or around the corner. It was great. It motivated me. It helped me deal with something that was a total pain but had to be done—making appointments.
Granted, I continued to cold call and make appointments on my own while I was in the field, but what she provided was an additional five to eight appointments a week that I turned into two or three additional sales.
That first year with my assistant, I was top salesman out of 13 in New England and I was 11th overall out of 165 in the company. Taking that leap to hire someone put me at a new level of thinking outside the box. And, it cost me nothing because she was making a percentage of money that I might not have otherwise made. She did well, too, and was very happy to earn a decent salary without leaving her baby.
All this resulted because I did something I was uncomfortable with. I had started to think it wouldn’t work, that I wouldn’t find the right person, be able to pay them, structure the pay, blah, blah, blah. In the final analysis, it doesn’t make a difference. You just go do it. Find somebody to help do your books, to help you with the minutia.
You can email Chuck Piola business-related questions at askchuck@thebulletin.us. You may also mail correspondence to Ask Chuck, PO Box 212, Swarthmore, Pa 19081. For more information about Chuck Piola visit www.ChuckPiola.com. To book Mr. Piola as a speaker or to find out about cooperative marketing opportunities with Going In Cold, visit PR Coordinates at www.PRCoordinates.com or call 610-338-0229.
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