Here we are in the middle of summer, it's hot, and everyone has either a turquoise ocean, a ski vacation, or a mango Frappaccino on their minds; just when we're supposed to be concentrating on closing Q3 and Q4 business. So, how do you stay motivated under these circumstances?

If you are tempted to take the rest of the summer off, and before you do, here's a thought:  consider what you TIME is worth! Do you know?

Let me shed some light on this for you, now that most of us can concentrate with temperatures in the double digits, again. If you are making $150k per year, do you know that an hour of your time is worth $76.84? A minute is worth $1.28, and if you waste an hour a day (you decide on what), you have piddled away $18,750 in wasted income, (a sum that would have made a tidy ski tip even THAT much more fun!)

Let's try one more example. If you are making $200k per year, an hour is worth $102.46, and a wasted hour every day is sucking $25,000 out of your bank account!

Now the whining always comes in. "But Renee, I NEVER waste an hour a day! That's a bunch of time and I'm busy all day long!" No argument there that the  salesperson is BUSY. An hour IS quite a chunk of time. However, many salespeople end up frittering away 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there, and it doesn't take long to get to that hour. A best friend calls, the boss sticks her head in your cube, you stop off for an extra cup of coffee on the way to an appointment...you know what sucks up your time. Regardless of what you are earning (and let's face it, most of us are on commission so the numbers are potentially much larger), find out how you can plug those holes in your day.

My top five suggestions to eliminate wasted time, so you can make more money are:

1. Get up earlier and go to work 15 minutes sooner. Use that time productively. If you work from home, all the easier!

2. Plan more than you have time to accomplish in a day. Prioritize your customer calls, appointments, and the like, then challenge yourself to get everything done.

3. STOP planning for fires in your day. If you think they'll come up, guess what? They will! Unless you wear a haz-mat suit to work, you have no excuse to PLAN for fires!

4. Start your day with an easy call, first. Make a phone call to an existing customer who loves to hear from you, a client you know will place an order, or the gatekeeper that tries to help you find the decision maker and is nice to you every time you call. Why torture yourself that first 15 minutes in the morning? Get the day started off, right. (Remember, this is NOT a social call, though.)

5. Educate yourself! Always have a sales tape, a business magazine, and/or access to on line training available so you can continue to build your business brain and sharpen your skills.

Ready, set, go! And if you want a complimentary matrix of how much you are making, and what your time is worth, email me at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and I'll send a copy to you.

Pass this onto a friend or colleague and Happy Selling!

(c)Renee Walkup, SalesPEAK, Inc., www.salespeak.com, 678 587-9911