In the previous article, “The 3 Best (and Free) Sales Tools for Executives,” we discussed powerful tools that can enhance your productivity. Now, let’s explore how these tools can work together to optimize your time management.
Create Your Custom Command Center
Achieving success requires focus, and focus demands clarity. A robust command center provides the clarity you need to align your daily activities with your goals. A command center is a single place you can reference to see how all the pieces of your plan are working together. It allows you to plan your day-to-day activities around your goals while quickly and easily making changes.
There are plenty of options to choose from when picking a command center. Project management software like Asana, Clickup, or Monday.com are popular options. For others, a phone or laptop home screen may be a better fit. As always, do what works for you, start small, and grow as you go. The important components include a calendar with tasks or reminders and the ability to move things around quickly. The goal is to build goal-oriented habits into your day-to-day routine.
I use Asana for this, others may use Google calendar or a client relationship manager. I’ll cover all three here and show you how integrating them can save you a lot of time and energy. I call this powerful combination the Business Tech Trifecta because it can keep everyone from solopreneurs to large teams aligned with their goals.
Control Your Calendar To Control Your Time
Even before going into business, we typically live our lives according to our calendars. School or work Monday-Friday, off weekends, attending weekly or monthly events, they’re all on our calendar. So, typically, the best way to start is by getting it all in our calendars. I don’t mean literally everything, but I do mean the important things. For example, you may not need to schedule time for your morning routine, but you may want to start your day later so you have time for it.
You may block an hour to work on your social media content. You may block a single day each week for meetings. Feel free to block as much time as needed. Block extra time, even. Leaving enough time to break down your goals into annual, monthly, and daily steps will help keep you focused day-to-day.
If you know your goals, you can use your calendar to set milestone dates or map out an entire timeline. If you have multiple goals or work with a team, you may want to consider using a project management system (PMS). Some, such as Asana, are free with basic features.
If you choose a PMS, be sure to connect your calendar to it so you’re seeing the big picture in a single place. Use that place as your command center when planning the steps toward your goal.
Consider Project Management Software
I geek out over tech so I’ve tried every project management tool I could find and Asana is by far my favorite. Simple, visually appealing, and free – it’s always my first recommendation. Exceptions to this include client relationship managers (CMS) and other apps offering internal PMS when it will save time, or money, or is already in use. Again, the best system is different for everyone.
Any PMS should make it easy to break goals down into projects and organize the tasks in that project around a team. These systems should make it easy to move tasks to other people, dates, and projects while keeping a history or project details. When plans change, a PMS makes it easy to pick up where anyone left off. They also let you link your tasks together to better identify priorities and bottlenecks. Various integrations such as Zapier make it easy (and sometimes free) to automate your process. As do labels, custom fields, and internal workflows.
When you’re ready, you can watch my quicktorial on how to integrate Asana and Google Calednar for free on YouTube. First, here’s what you can do with the two:
Close More Deals with A Client Relationship Manager
Client relationship managers (CRMs), allow you to customize the information you store about your contacts, the sales
Sales is any set of activities related to selling products a... More process you use to convert clients, and the ways team members can access information. Linking contact information to your tasks, content, and a custom company database gives you more control over how much time you spend selling.
Today, many CRMs allow you to use basic automation features for free. Still, in general, automation can be costly. HubSpot is not my favorite CRM, it’s not even my favorite free CRM, but it allows you to integrate with your Google Calendar for free so… I recommend starting there if you’re on a tight budget.
Like any other CRM, HubSpot makes it easier to plan tasks around your contacts while organizing their information based on your individual business. You can link contact information, emails, birthdays, salesSales is any set of activities related to selling products a... More revenue, and much much more. Just keep in mind the more you want to store, automate, customize, etc., the more the CRM may cost. So, as always, start small. Make sure you only use what you need.
Once you know what information you want to collect (and using the default fields is fine), you can start entering your contacts. If you’re importing or automating data, be sure to prepare your resources first. Once you do, you can automate emails, text messages, and more. For example, you can attach documents that autofill to Docusign for contract signing or you can simply collect contact information from your website. Give yourself plenty of time to learn features, get it set up, and plan your budget.
Again, if you choose this route, be sure to integrate your calendar so you can automatically see your salesSales is any set of activities related to selling products a... More activity. Most integrations will allow you to link your calls, meetings, and other tasks to the contacts invited. Using this feature will provide quick and easy access to your notes, documents, and other linked resources. Imagine having everything from salesSales is any set of activities related to selling products a... More scripts to pet names just a touch away.
Need Help or Training?
I love a good project, especially when planning is a challenge. So if you need any help at all, please get in touch using the chatbox below.
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