Professional Distributor - 29

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PLANNING AND TIME
MANAGEMENT WILL
SAVE THE DAY
In Steven Covey's best-selling book
"The Seven Habits of Highly Effective
People," Covey's third habit is to put
first things first. He explains this with
a presentation on the four quadrants of
time management, which are:
I. Important and urgent
Do crises and emergencies
II. Important but not urgent
Plan prevention, planning,
and improvement
III. Not important but urgent
Delegate interruptions and
busy work
IV. Not important and not urgent
Eliminate time wasters
Here's a summary of the meaning
of each quadrant, and what it might
mean for you:
Quadrant I - High urgency. The
first quadrant contains tasks and
responsibilities that demand immediate
attention. Your truck won't start. Your
best customer or dealership calls and
needs something now. You forgot your
kid's birthday and you need a present.
You need some sales today.

Quadrant II - Long-term development and strategizing. The second
quadrant is for items that are important
without requiring immediate action.
Covey points out that this quadrant
should be used for long-term strategizing. Learn a new selling skill. Develop
a new local promotion. Run down your
inventory before the next Matco Expo,
Cornwell Rally, or ISN Tool Dealer
Expo (to name a few).
Quadrant III - Distractions with
high urgency. The third quadrant is
reserved for tasks that are urgent,
without being important. Covey recommends minimizing or even eliminating
these tasks as they do not contribute
to your output. Delegation is also an
option here. A small customer needs
a new 1/2" socket and just can't wait
until your stop there next week. Your
DM wants a report on the sales of some
new tool today because he forgot to ask
you for it last week.
Quadrant IV - Activities with little
to no value. The fourth and last quadrant focuses on tasks and responsibilities that do not yield any value -
items that are unimportant and not
urgent. These time wasters should be

eliminated at any cost. Do you really
need that stop at the donut shop? Your
heart and waistline will thank you for
skipping this one.
Published in 1989, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" is still the
number one business book best seller
on Amazon. As successful as we may
be, there's always room for improvement. Try some of these suggestions,
and see if anything sticks. Now, go
sell something.

Side thoughts
on selling
Talk to a number of successful
jobbers, and you'll find one common
trait they share is doing written call
reports. Taking five minutes after
each stop to write up your post call
notes will leave you with better
notes and even help you plan your
next sales call to that location.
Otherwise, it will take you twice as
long to remember and write down
what you did and said all day, and
you will end up using your valuable
home time while you're at it. If you
are not doing call reports, I pray
your memory is perfect ...
but I bet it's not.

Professional Distributor I December 2019 I VehicleServicePros.com 29

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