Three Steps for a Successful Sales Trip

A week of hectic travel leaves you tired and frustrated.  Here are three steps to get organized and ensure success on your next sales trip:

1. Plan Ahead

In order to get ahead of the competition, you need to be efficient.  By creating optimal routes and sticking to them, you'll steer clear of stressful situations during the week.  Cutting your driving by 20% means crushing your quota while everyone else is still on the road.  And since you can store your routes in an iCal, Outlook, or Google calendar, you'll know exactly what's on tap every day of the trip.

2. Track your Progress

You shouldn't count your chickens before they hatch, but it's way more satisfying to review each day and see how much you've accomplished.  Badger gives you a full report of your activity over any timeframe, so you can see where you've checked in and know where you are in the week.  If your sales are looking a little lean in the initial report, you can plan accordingly for later in the week.  Better to know on Tuesday that you've got to squeeze in two more meetings on Thursday to hit your quota than be late for your flight home on Friday.

3. Adapt

Did your 10AM cancel on you?  Free food during your Noon meeting leave you with a lunch break to kill?  Cold-call ask you to come back tomorrow?  Make the most of schedule changes by being aware of your surroundings and nearby leads.  You can search for nearby leads on the move with your iPhone or Android and get directions to them on the spot.  Even if you find more prospects than you can visit during the week, you can save them as leads for later and lay the groundwork for your next successful sales trip.