From my email this tip for media salespeople that you can apply to any sales job:
Daily Sales Tip: They're Not Worth My Time!
One of the most difficult things for media reps to do is to "disqualify" prospects and to release current accounts from your account list (even if they are billing).
It's not always true that the bigger the account list, the greater the billing. By concentrating on fewer accounts and forging deeper relationships, you will probably find more success than casting a wide net with one pass. Concentrating on certain geographic territories may save you more time, and becoming a category specialist may increase your effectiveness in an area of expertise.
How do you know when it is time to terminate a relationship with a current billing account? Some accounts create more stress than they are worth in billing. Problem accounts that are constant emotional drains can zap your energy and diminish your effectiveness in other areas.
A good way to determine the cost/benefit ratio of an account is to figure what the value of your time is worth. Note how much time you are spending on each account and compare this with the amount you are making on each account.
If you are making $50,000 per year (or that is your goal), your rate (assuming a 40-hour work week) is $24 per hour. If a problem account billing $1,500 per month is netting you $225 per month in commissions and you are spending an average of 15 difficult hours per month to service that account, you are only making $15 per hour, or less than two-thirds of your average rate. Your time would be better spent on more profitable accounts.
Don't be afraid to fire a bad account. Be afraid of keeping bad accounts.
Source: Sales consultant/author Michael Guld, president of The Guld Resource Group (www.guldresource.com)
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