Prioritize high-return activities

In his newsletter, Mark Hunter emphasizes that salespeople often waste time on tasks that don’t contribute to their success.

He suggests focusing only on what truly matters to improve productivity by just 10%, which can lead to meaningful results like an extra half-day per week or five additional weeks per year.

1. Stop unnecessary work
Many tasks salespeople do, like writing detailed reports or handling admin work, don’t directly drive sales.

Challenge whether these tasks are necessary. If they aren’t, stop doing them or find faster ways to complete them.

2. Tackle high-impact tasks first
Salespeople often avoid tasks like prospecting or following up because they feel hard or unpleasant. These are the tasks that generate results.

Prioritize them and make them a non-negotiable part of your daily routine.

3. Question customer-facing tasks
If you manage large accounts, review what you’re doing for clients. Ask them what value they get from the reports or processes you deliver.

You may find tasks that can be eliminated or delegated to free up time.

4. Focus on improving by 10%
Don’t aim for perfection or massive changes. Instead, focus on becoming 10% more productive by eliminating one or two big inefficiencies or speeding up smaller tasks.

This modest improvement can create significant time savings.

5. Prioritize high-return activities
Take the time you save and invest it into activities that directly lead to sales, like closing deals, meeting with prospects, or improving customer relationships.

Focus your energy on actions that build revenue and momentum.

6. Evaluate your habits
Some organization systems or routines feel productive but don’t actually contribute to sales.

Review your personal processes and stop anything that doesn’t lead to better results.

7. Ask “why” for every task
Before committing to a task, ask why it’s necessary. If the answer isn’t clear, challenge whether it needs to be done.

Apply this thinking to tasks requested by your boss or your company.

8. Reduce pointless reporting
Weekly recap emails or similar reports often waste time. If you’re required to provide them, suggest alternative ways to share the same information more efficiently.

This benefits not just you but the entire sales team.

9. Build sales motivation through action
Completing impactful tasks builds momentum and boosts motivation. Focus on what matters most to feel more productive and achieve better results.

10. Apply freed time to selling
The time you save from eliminating unnecessary work should go toward prospecting, following up, and closing deals.

Use every minute gained to maximize your sales performance.

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Gain 2+ hours with this method

Keith Weightman shares how sellers can save over two hours weekly by streamlining recurring meetings.

Here’s a practical way to declutter your calendar and reclaim time for high-priority work:

⇢ Audit your meetings

Create a simple tracker in Excel or Google Sheets.

Include columns for meeting name, frequency, your role, duration, and whether it can be shortened, delegated, moved to email, or eliminated. This helps visualize how much time your meetings consume.

⇢ Question every meeting

For each meeting, ask if it truly needs to happen.

Could it be shorter? Could someone else attend? Could the discussion be handled over email or Slack? Mark these decisions in your tracker.

⇢ Use speedy meetings

Enable the "speedy meetings" feature in Google Calendar or Outlook.

This ends 30-minute meetings 5 minutes early and longer ones 10 minutes early, creating space between calls.

⇢ Cancel and reset

Cancel meetings you own that can be shortened or restructured.

Send updated invites with the revised duration and focus.

⇢ Reclaim time for selling

With the time saved, focus on revenue-driving tasks like prospecting and closing deals.

Use your reclaimed hours to work smarter, not harder.

Work on what matters most

Brian Tracy points out that time management is about focusing on tasks with significant consequences and long-term impact. He explains that top performers prioritize high-value activities and eliminate distractions that lead to wasted time.

1. Focus on tasks with big consequences

• Identify activities that produce the most significant outcomes for your sales pipeline.

• Avoid spending time on tasks with low or no consequences, like excessive admin work or unnecessary meetings.

2. Think long-term, act today

• Plan your actions today based on the results you want to achieve in the future.

• Invest time in building skills and relationships that will pay off over years, not just days.

3. Prioritize value creation and sales generation

• Spend your time creating value for clients and closing deals.

• Eliminate tasks that don’t directly support these goals.

4. Apply the law of three

• Write down everything you do in a week.

• Identify the top three activities that generate 90% of your sales success.

• Dedicate most of your time to these “big three” and cut out or delegate the rest.

5. Break fear-driven procrastination

• Fear of rejection often leads to avoiding sales calls or key actions.

• Take immediate action on high-impact tasks rather than overthinking them.

6. Stop busy work

• Avoid activities that feel productive but don’t move the needle, like endless CRM updates or over-preparing for calls.

• Focus on actions that open doors and create opportunities.

7. Challenge every task's necessity

• Before starting a task, ask: Does this contribute directly to sales?

• If not, skip it or delegate it to someone else.

8. Eliminate perfectionism

• Don’t aim for perfect execution—progress beats perfection.

• Start tasks immediately and refine as you go.

9. Analyze weekly results

• At the end of each week, assess which activities created the most value.

• Double down on these tasks the following week.

10. Build momentum through action

• Take bold, immediate steps to reach out to prospects, close deals, or follow up with leads.

• Success in sales comes from consistently taking actions that matter.

Make your sales time count

Mark Colgan explains how solopreneurs, consultants, and fractional executives can improve productivity and automate workflows to save time and focus on impactful work.

These strategies are highly applicable to salespeople managing complex tasks and high-pressure targets.

1. Focus on outcomes, not activity
Sales isn’t about staying busy. Focus on closing deals, high-priority follow-ups, and meaningful client interactions. Avoid wasting time on admin tasks that don’t directly impact revenue.

2. Prioritize with the Eisenhower Matrix
Categorize tasks as urgent and important, important but not urgent, urgent but not important, or neither. Complete high-priority tasks first and automate or eliminate low-impact ones.

3. Automate repetitive work
Use tools like Text Blaze to send quick follow-ups, Gmail templates for consistent replies, and CRMs like Salesforce to schedule reminders. This saves time and reduces manual effort.

4. Time block for productivity
Allocate specific time slots for prospecting, calls, and proposal writing. Keep these slots free of interruptions to maximize focus. Avoid multitasking during these blocks.

5. Review and reflect weekly
At the end of each week, analyze which sales activities worked best. Use this insight to refine your approach for the following week. Reflect on progress and adjust your priorities.

6. Streamline client onboarding
Automate client onboarding processes using tools like Dubsado or HoneyBook. Set up workflows to send welcome emails, collect client information, and share key documents effortlessly.

7. Manage emails with intention
Set fixed times to check your email instead of reacting to every notification. Organize your inbox with filters for high-value clients and use canned responses for repetitive messages.

8. Track goals with digital tools
Break annual goals into quarterly targets. Use platforms like Notion or ClickUp to track progress and adjust plans. Visual progress indicators can keep you motivated and focused.

9. Schedule smarter
Use Calendly or Google Calendar to streamline meeting scheduling. Automate reminders to reduce no-shows and color-code your calendar to manage your time visually.

10. Avoid tool overload
Stick to one or two main platforms for task and project management to prevent information scattering. Trello or Asana are great for keeping everything organized in one place.

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