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Education

Make every Schedule specific sales time and place it on your calendar
every day. This isn't the only time you will sell; it's your
day count minimum commitment. It may be four hours or it may be
only two. Either way, schedule sales time each day.

Start each Monday by booking sales time. If you need
By Jeff Fortney to schedule a meeting, do so around this time. Or if you
Clearent LLC book a meeting for the following week, schedule your
sales time accordingly. Remember, if you're not selling,
spoke recently with a merchant level salesperson you aren't building your portfolio. Anything unrelated to
(MLS) who was struggling to plan for the coming sales must be done outside of this time.
year. We discussed all the necessary goal-setting Day to day
I and action steps. But then the salesperson said, "I
can set all the goals, develop all the action plans, and even As you complete a task, check it off your list. Remember,
set short-term goals, but it still comes down to today and tackle the critical items first. The last task of each day
tomorrow. What do I do to make today and tomorrow will help shape your list for the following day. Use your
successful?" unfinished list as your starting point for a new list. Then
reprioritize each item. Something that was a 2 may now
I realized the majority of MLSs face this dilemma. It has become a 1.
been said that generals plan battles, but privates fire the
guns. We're all generals, in one way or another, but unless Also, review your calendar regularly. Make sure you
we have several salespeople working for us, we're all haven't booked a whole day in a way that will prevent
privates, too. We need to plan while also taking actions you from selling and meeting the demands of the critical
that make every day count. items on your list.
Make a list
The number one cause of day-to-day planning failure is
FranklinCovey has existed for decades. One of the "scatter shooting," which is doing whatever task pops up
company's central premises is that you should prioritize with no reason for the order. For example, you might find
actions each day. First, make a list of everything you feel yourself on one side of town needing to complete a task
needs to be done – not just tasks you want to complete on the other. This is unproductive and frustrating, and
today, but everything you want to do, period. frustration is the number two cause of failure.

Once you have finished this list, prioritize each item. You Your day should begin and end with your list. Manage
can use a 1, 2 and 3 or an A, B, and C system. The key is to your time consistently and you will not only meet your
clarify what must be done (1), what needs to be done (2), daily goals, but you will also exceed your long-term
and what you want to do (3). goals. The generals will be happy, and the privates will
survive.
The first day's list will probably be long, but that's OK.
Remember, not every item must be done that day. Do not
designate too many items as highest priority; your list will Jeff Fortney is Vice President, ISO Channel Management with
become overwhelming, and you won't be able to address Clearent LLC. He has more than 17 years' experience in the
less urgent items until they become critical. If an item payments industry. Contact him at jeff@clearent.com or 972-618-
must be done that day, make it a 1. If it can be done the
next day, or the day after, it is not truly a 1. 7340. To learn about how Clearent can help you grow faster and
go further, visit www.clearent.com.
Take time on this first list; it will be the key to all future
days. If you finish every item on the list on the first day,
you probably omitted items that should be on your list. If
this happens, talk with your ISO partner for tasks to put
on your list – items that will drive your success.
Set time commitments

You must manage your time effectively each day. One
priority above all will define your success: designating
daily sales time. Set a minimum time commitment for
selling, or your time will be swallowed by activities
unrelated to sales.

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