Six simple tips for increasing sales and peace of mind

by Barbara Hemphill

Have you ever found a lead on a scrap of paper after the prospect purchased from your competition? Are you spending time recreating proposals because you can’t find a similar one you wrote a few months ago? Do you run out of the door for an appointment at the last minute because you couldn’t find the samples you really wanted to take? Are you feeling overwhelmed?

If so, here are six simple steps to creating the office environment you deserve, and one that will help you increase sales and decrease stress.

Make a date with yourself for getting your act together
Plan a minimum of three hours when there will be no interruptions. Decide on a reward for yourself when you’re finished. Do anything you can to reduce your stress during the process – put on music, grab your favorite beverage, and get plenty of trash bags and recycling bins.

Take everything off your desk except what you must have or do. (A photograph or memento that reminds you of the reason you work is definitely OK!) Practice "the art of wastebasketry.".

Research shows that 80 percent of what you keep you never use. Tossing or keeping is not a moral issue, but it is a practical one. 

So how do you decide what to keep? For each piece of paper, ask these questions: Does this require action? Would it be difficult to get again? Is it recent enough to be useful? Are there any tax or legal implications? If the answer to all those questions is “No,” then ask “What’s the worst thing that could happen if I didn’t have this piece of paper?” If you can live with the results of your answer, toss it, recycle it or give it to someone else who can use it.

Get the right tools for your business
Half of any job is using the right tool. Put three trays on your desk: in, out and file. “In” is for new mail – papers you have not yet looked at. “Out” is for items that need to go elsewhere, such as the post office or to another room. “File” is for papers you need to file outside the reach of where you sit. Eliminate paper whenever you can with electronic tools, such as a contact management program and a financial management program.

Implement the FAT System
File, act or toss. Clutter is postponed decisions. The good news? There are only three decisions you can make about what to do with any piece of paper:
(1) File it in a reference file in case you need it in the future;
(2) Act on it immediately or in the near future;
(3) Toss – or recycle – it.

Create an action filing system
All of the papers that require immediate attention can be divided into two major categories: 1) tasks that have to be done at a specific time, such as filing a quarterly report, and 2) tasks for which you have not yet identified a deadline, or that are on-going, such as calling on prospects.

Use a desktop filing box for current projects/clients/trips. Create individual action files for tasks you do over and over again, such as “prospects to call,” “calls expected from prospects,” “PDA entry” ”discuss with manager” and “expense reimbursements.”  Out of sight? Out of mind? Put a note in your calendar to remind you to look in “call” for the paper you need to discuss with a prospect or your supplier.

Create a reference filing system
If your existing filing system isn’t working, don’t fix it. Ignore it. Clean out your most accessible file drawer and start over. Keep the old papers, and as you need papers from the old system, merge them into the new filing system.

Eventually the two systems will become one, or the old system will become old enough that you’ll feel comfortable throwing it away or at least putting it in a less accessible space. The key to your continuing success with any filing system is a file index, a list of the names of your files. 

Use it just as you would a chart of accounts to determine which accounts to charge an expense. You can create a file index as a word processing document or spread sheet. Print out a copy to keep at your desk and another to keep at the filing system itself.

Another option is to use Taming the Paper Tiger software (www.thepapertiger.com). It creates and prints a file index, as well as file labels, and allows you to automatically cross-reference files. With its powerful search engine capability, you can retrieve anything you file in five seconds by using a keyword search.

Will this system turn you into a clean-desk person – unlikely!  Messy desks are the natural outcome of a hectic pace. A place for everything and everything in its place? Forget it, but it is half right. A place for everything means than when you want to clean up your office to meet a client, or just because you’re just sick of the mess yourself, recovering is no big deal. Some quick decision-making will clean off that desk in a matter of minutes.

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