Put the Bite on Stress

Start Using Your Secret Insightly Mailbox

When you sign up for Insightly, you’re assigned an email address (example@mailbox.insightly.ly), which is unique to your account.

Each time a message is sent to your mailbox, Insightly does some awesome stuff behind the scenes. Your message is first scanned for matching records (such as domains and emails). If Insightly spots a match, the system links this message to the existing record. If, however, there is no match, Insightly does you a favor and creates a company and contact record on your behalf.

As you can imagine, this is extremely beneficial for the time-crunched entrepreneur. As new leads request information, alerts can be forwarded from any web-enabled device. Now, instead of waiting to get back to the office (or forgetting altogether), you can make sure every new opportunity is captured.

Insightly offers additional functionality for project and opportunity emails. Rather than sending your correspondence to the general Insightly address, you can actually grab opportunity-specific (or project-specific) email addresses. This can be especially helpful, as projects and opportunities are likely the topic of most emails. Emails, invoices, quotes, drawings, and other important files are now in the right place from the get-go – instead of trying to piece things together after-the-fact.

Schedule Time for Goal Setting

It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day aspects of running your business. Client requests, task lists, emails, voicemails, and meetings consume every moment of your day (and sanity).

When the day is over, the last thing you want to do is think about the big picture. Unfortunately, if you overlook the big picture, you’ll never grow your business to its fullest potential.

What are you to do? Start by finding some quiet time to ask yourself these questions:

• What are the three most important short-term and long-term goals for my business?
• Do I have a plan to achieve these goals?
• How can I remove the obstacles preventing me from realizing these goals?
• How will I hold myself accountable?

To hold yourself accountable, schedule a recurring calendar event to review ongoing progress. It may be wise to start with a monthly frequency (you can always adjust later). Also, use the calendar invite to define an agenda for your session. Instead of reinventing the wheel each time, your calendar reminder can include links to your goal tracking documentation and notes from previous sessions.

One final thought – try to pick a time and day of the week in which your brain is most able to think strategically about your business. Monday morning at 8 am is probably not the best choice for most business owners.

You roll out of bed, and the first thing you look at is your smartphone. You have thirty new emails since you went to sleep – and that was only six hours ago. Another day has begun, and you’re already knee-deep into it before your feet hit the floor.

Layer on the Stress

Speaking of Monday mornings, a new workweek brings on its own set of challenges. While you were relaxing (or at least trying to) over the weekend, some of your colleagues were staying busy. As a result, dozens of new emails and unread instant message threads have arrived to overwhelm you.

Instead of stretching yourself thin on Monday, try layering on the stress. Break the first few hours of the workweek down into more manageable bites by:

Making Time for Yourself Before Work – Few things are more challenging than jumping out of a peaceful weekend and directly into a work crisis. You’ve already been off the clock for more than 48 hours. What’s another hour? Ease into the day with some exercise, prayer or meditation, and reflection on the wonderful weekend.

Taking a One-at-a-Time Approach – Most professionals have multiple accounts to check each day. Why not start with the least stressful one? By the time you check your most stress-inducing account, your brain will be more apt to handle anything that lurks (hopefully nothing too awful awaits your attention

Are Co-Workers Holding Back Your Sales Success?

What’s stopping you from closing more deals?

Our friend Adam Honig, over at the Spiro blog, asserts there are at least ten things that commonly get in the way of salespeople. While most sales professionals can probably relate to all ten issues, it’s noteworthy that “co-workers” are mentioned at the top of the list. In the article, Adam points out, “Salespeople are a talkative bunch, and a sales floor is usually a really fun place to work. But those same benefits can cost you money when you spend more time goofing around or catching up more than you do selling.”

Stop and think about your average day. Time spent on office parties, water cooler chatter, coffee breaks, and the occasional cubicle drop-in can add up quickly. It’s certainly important to be personable and show your colleagues the respect they deserve. It’s equally important, however, to avoid letting non-work stuff creep into your most productive hours.

To prevent co-workers from getting in your way, start paying closer attention to the amount of non-sales time you engage in each week. Sure, we all need breaks to stay fresh, but perhaps your time could be further optimized.

You’ll never know unless you start tracking it.