When I started my journey in sales, I was a complete mess with time management. I’d jump from task to task, chase every “urgent” email, and end my days wondering where all my time went. Sound familiar? I bet it does. After decades of working with sales teams across the globe, I’ve discovered that effective time management isn’t just a nice-to-have skill – it’s the backbone of sales success. And I will be completely honest to tell you that I still struggle with it from time to time.
Here’s the thing: Most sales leaders think about sales training and time management as two separate entities. But in my experience, the right sales training approach can transform how your team manages their time, leading to better results and happier salespeople. Let me show you how.
The Hidden Connection Between Sales Training and Time Management
Think about your typical sales rep’s day. They’re juggling prospecting, customer calls, follow-ups, proposals, and the endless sea of administrative tasks. Without proper training, they’re essentially trying to navigate this chaos blindfolded. What if I told you that effective sales training could cut through this chaos like a hot knife through butter?
When we implement structured sales training programs, we’re not just teaching people how to sell – we’re teaching them how to work smarter. Every sales methodology, every process, every best practice we introduce is essentially a time management tool in disguise.
The Real Cost of Poor Time Management in Sales
Let’s get real for a moment. Poor time management isn’t just about missed deadlines or disorganized calendars. It’s costing your organization serious money. Here’s what I see happening in teams without proper training:
- Sales reps spending hours crafting personalized emails when they should be using tested templates
- Teams getting stuck in unqualified deals because they didn’t ask the right questions early
- Reps chasing leads that went cold months ago instead of focusing on hot opportunities
- Reps not having a clean way to prioritize their “must do’s” from their “wish to dos”
This isn’t just inefficiency – it’s your commission, revenue, and valuation literally walking out the door.
Seven Game-Changing Training Exercises for Better Time Management
1. The Priority Matrix Challenge
This is one of my favorite exercises to run with sales teams. Here’s how it works:
Have your reps track every single activity they do for a week in 30-minute blocks. Then, in a team session, create a 2×2 matrix with “Urgent” and “Important” as your axes. Have each rep plot their activities in the appropriate quadrant.
The revelations are always eye-opening. Most reps are shocked to discover they spend most of their time in the “Urgent but Not Important” quadrant. This exercise creates powerful conversations about value-adding activities versus time-wasters.
2. The Perfect Week Blueprint
This exercise is about proactive planning rather than reactive doing. Here’s the process:
Get your team together and have them design their “perfect sales week.” But here’s the twist – they must allocate specific time blocks for:
- Prospecting (no less than 2 hours per day)
- Customer meetings and follow-ups
- Administrative tasks
- Planning and strategy
- Buffer time for unexpected issues
The key is to have them stick to this blueprint for at least two weeks and track their results. What I love about this exercise is how it forces reps to protect their most valuable time slots and say no to non-essential activities.
3. The Email Elimination Tournament
This is where we get tactical. In this exercise, reps compete to see who can reduce their email handling time the most while maintaining or improving their response quality. The rules:
- Create template responses for common scenarios
- Set specific times for checking and responding to emails
- Use a timer for email sessions
- Track the number of emails handled per session
4. The Meeting Efficiency Challenge
Here’s an exercise that consistently blows minds. I call it the Meeting Efficiency Challenge, and it works like this:
Have your reps record their sales calls for a week (with permission, of course). Then, in a team session, analyze these recordings with a specific focus on time usage. Create a scorecard that tracks:
- Time spent on small talk vs. business discussion
- Number of times the rep brings the conversation back to value
- Moments where the conversation could have been shortened
- Quality of next steps and action items established
Then, challenge your team to improve their scores week over week. The real magic happens when reps start seeing patterns in their meeting management style. I’ve had teams reduce their average meeting time by 15 minutes while actually increasing their close rates – all because they learned to run more focused, value-driven conversations.
5. The Context Switching Combat
This is a powerful exercise that addresses one of the biggest time-killers in sales: context switching. Here’s how it works:
For one week, have your reps use a simple toggle system (could be as basic as a notepad or a simple app) to track every time they switch tasks. The rules are:
- Mark down every switch between different types of activities (e.g., from prospecting to admin work)
- Note the reason for the switch (internal or external trigger)
- Record how long it takes to get back into flow on the original task
At the end of the week, gather the team and analyze the data. Most reps are shocked to discover they’re switching tasks 50-100 times per day, with each switch costing 5-15 minutes in recovery time.
Phase two of this exercise involves creating “focus blocks” where reps commit to single-task activities for set periods (I recommend starting with 45-minute blocks). The results are often dramatic – I’ve seen reps double their prospecting output simply by eliminating the constant task-switching that was fragmenting their day.
The winner isn’t just the fastest – it’s the rep who best balances speed with effectiveness. I’ve seen teams cut their email time in half through this exercise while actually improving their communication quality.
The Ripple Effect of Better Time Management
When we implement these training exercises, something magical happens. Not only do we see immediate improvements in time management, but we also notice:
- Higher quality conversations with prospects
- More accurate pipeline forecasting
- Improved work-life balance for the sales team
- Better close rates
- Increased team morale
This is because good time management creates space for strategic thinking and high-value activities.
6. Color Coding The Calendar
Based on the above activities have your team color code your calendar. I use the stop-light method of red, yell, and green.
- Green = Revenue generating activities, cold call, sales calls, demo calls, etc.
- Yellow = Revenue supporting activities, list building, calendar review, 1:1’s, pre-call prep, post call summary emails, team meetings
- Red = Non-Revenue generating activities, lunch, breaks, meetings with other departments
And yes, you can add other colors. I use blue for family activities, purple for podcasts, light green for networking calls, etc.
The true benefit is what everyone sees when they look at their calendar. If you see a day full of green, how’s that going to make you feel?
If you see a week without a lot of green, how does that make you feel and what will you now re-prioritize?
7. No More To-Do Lists
I know this sounds a bit weird and counterintuitive, stick with me though. How many of us have a to do list with 10+ things on it? And how often do you rewrite your to do list and still have the same 5 of the 10 things there?
So now, instead of writing stuff down, put each task actually on your calendar. Yes, every single one, personal and professional. And here’s why:
- Many people carry anxiety with them when they write down to do lists and don’t complete them. It literally keeps them up at night.
- By putting it on your calendar you can know that it will finally get done and stop worrying about it getting done.
- If you decide to move it over and over it actually helps you give yourself permission to simply not do it and not worry about it.
And no, you cannot go block 1-2 hours of time on your calendar and call it “To Do List”. That’s just changing paper to digital with the same anxiety outcome.
Making It Stick: The Implementation Framework
Here’s the truth – one-off training sessions don’t create lasting change. To make these time management improvements stick, you need:
- To tackle these one at a time. You cannot boil the ocean
- Regular reinforcement through weekly team meetings
- Clear metrics to track progress
- Leadership that models good time management behaviors
- A culture that values focused work over busy work
- Systems and tools that support efficient processes
The Role of Technology in Time Management Training
Let’s address the elephant in the room – technology. Yes, there are countless tools promising to make your team more efficient. But here’s my controversial take: Technology without proper training often creates more problems than it solves.
I’ve seen teams invest in expensive CRM systems, sales engagement platforms, and productivity tools, only to watch their reps waste more time trying to manage these tools than actually selling. The key is to introduce technology gradually, always tied to specific training objectives and processes.
Measuring Success: The Metrics That Matter
How do you know if your time management training is working? Look for these indicators:
- Increased number of quality conversations per rep
- Higher conversion rates at each pipeline stage
- Reduced time spent on non-selling activities
- Improved forecast accuracy
- Better employee satisfaction scores
The Future of Sales Time Management
As we look ahead, the ability to manage time effectively will become even more critical. With the rise of digital selling, hybrid work environments, and increasingly complex buyer journeys, sales teams need stronger time management skills than ever before.
And yes, AI in sales is definitely going to help us become more time management efficient.
Your Next Steps
If you’re ready to transform how your team manages time through effective sales training, start with these steps:
- Audit your current time management practices
- Implement one of the training exercises mentioned above
- Measure the results
- Adjust and iterate based on what you learn
- Scale what works across your entire team
Remember, the goal isn’t to create perfect time managers – it’s to build more effective salespeople who can focus on what truly matters: helping customers solve problems and closing deals.
Final Thoughts
In my years of sales training, I’ve learned that the best time management strategies aren’t about working harder – they’re about working smarter. Through proper sales training, we can help our teams make better decisions about how they spend their time, leading to better results for everyone involved.
The question isn’t whether you should integrate time management into your sales training – it’s how quickly you can get started. Because in sales, time isn’t just money – it’s opportunity, growth, and success waiting to happen.
Are you ready to transform how your team manages their time? Let’s talk about creating a training program that delivers real results.
The winner isn’t just the fastest – it’s the rep who best balances speed with effectiveness. I’ve seen teams cut their email time in half through this exercise while actually improving their communication quality.
