In sales it's essential to master time management. This was true when Paul H. Green started The Green Sheet as an email newsletter in 1985, and it remains true today. Each action in a merchant level salesperson's workday should have a purpose—whether it's sales outreach to generate new business; follow-up actions to close deals, up-sell and maintain relationships; administrative, educational and logistical tasks to keep track of all of these activities; or breaks to promote mental and physical health.
With a schedule weighted toward demanding interactions and looming quotas, successful salespeople typically map out certain times in the day to focus on each of the requisite functions. This helps ensure that nothing falls through the cracks. And research indicates the more time you devote to outreach and follow up, the more deals you'll close. The Center for Sales Strategy, for example, found that salespeople who spent 20 hours per week prospecting closed 1.5 times more deals than those who spent 10 hours per week prospecting.
Using a CRM system designed specifically for payments professionals is helpful. So is learning to delegate routine types of tasks to support staff. Still, juggling responsibilities is a constant challenge.
That's why what I'm about to propose may seem counterintuitive. I believe that despite the intense pressure in today's busy, competitive world, setting aside time regularly to reconnect with friends and colleagues you've lost touch with provides a unique kind of uplift that enriches and nourishes you, as well as ultimately enhances your creativity and productivity. Direct benefits that come to my mind are recalling shared memories, jokes and milestones; reducing feelings of loneliness and enhancing a sense of being cared about; and being inspired by what the people you're reconnecting with have done lately and gaining new perspectives from their experiences. Another possibility is your old contacts may also introduce you to new people who have new opportunities to offer.
Social media has enabled millions of people to reconnect with friends, family and former colleagues they'd lost touch with. And this has afforded people the benefits I just mentioned, particularly during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Writing for Psychology Today's July 30, 2021, issue, Joe LaBianca, PhD, stated, "We’re often hesitant to contact these 'dormant ties' because we are often embarrassed with not having contacted them in a long time, and we might be concerned that the other person will reject our attempts to reactivate the tie. However, the response from them is often exactly the opposite—everybody is excited to hear from each other and people report jumping back into the old relationship in a way that makes people happier and relieves stress."
So if someone has come to mind as you've read this article, it's not too late. Reach out. You're more likely to receive a warm response than a chilly one. Who knows? Details about your first industry tradeshow or first deal closed may surface and give you a valuable new perspective. Give it a try, and let me know how it goes. 
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