Like this article? PLEASE +1 it! Evan Signature
Evan Carmichael Top Header
Share for a Cause









Selling In Your Home Office

Written by: Jim Meisenheimer

Article Overview: Home office selling. Every sales representative spends valuable time in his selling home office. Check out these recommendations.

Free Download - Sales Flubs By Jim Meisenheimer
Name: Email:

Selling In Your Home Office

If you're in the selling profession you probably spend at least some time working in your home office.

During my 4 mile bike ride this morning, I started thinking about home offices. I can't explain why I just started thinking about home offices. And then I started to think about what makes a good office set-up for professional salespeople?

During my sales training programs I often ask salespeople how many days a week do they work from a home office. You'd be amazed at the responses I've gotten. It runs the gamut from zero to three days a week. Different businesses have different requirements and protocols for their salespeople.

When you spend a half day a week or three days a week selling from your home office it's important that you set it up in a way that maximizes your productivity.

I remember years ago my first office was tucked into a corner of my one-bedroom apartment in New York City. The desk consisted of two 2-draw file cabinets with an old door placed over the file cabinets to serve as a desktop. Those were the days

It scares me to think about all the selling tools I didn't have when I started my first sales job. Whether you're just starting out in the selling profession or are a seasoned sales veteran here's a list of things to consider for your home office.

First things first!

1. Ideally, you want to have a dedicated room for your office. I realize that's not always possible but it's always a practical idea.

2. A good size desk with a return for your computer. I think, the bigger the better. Remember, this will serve as command central for your business.

3. Good lighting is important especially if you work includes a lot of reading.

4. A desktop telephone and a headset. Wearing a headset enables you to become more animated and energetic on all important telephone calls. This can have a big impact on your selling results.

5. Color-coded filing system. Use red folders for high priorities, yellow folders for medium priorities, and use blue folders for low priorities. Use a desk organizer for these priorities folders.

6. A desktop computer with a flat-panel 19 inch screen is ideal for most applications.

7. You should also consider the following: a fax machine, a copier, a scanner, a printer, a color printer, and the postage meter if you do frequent mailings. You'd be amazed how much time you can waste going to and from the post office.

8. Since time is money I also suggest a clock and a timer to keep you on time.

9. You might also want to consider a videocam and a digital tape recorder. While you're at it a digital camera.

10. Within arms reach I also suggest having a dictionary and a thesaurus. Open the dictionary and cross out the following words - can't, impossible, hope, and discount. Tomorrow I'm flying to California. I'm not hoping the pilot can get me there, I'm expecting him to get me there - that's a big difference. And remember, when you're selling, you get what you expect!

11. Depending on how much time you spend in your office and of course your budget, you should have a very comfortable chair.

12. A white board - the bigger the better. It's a great place to post your goals in your results. Written goals make things happen for salespeople, so why not put them up in neon lights so you can see them every working day.

13. The more time you spend in your home office the more important this is. Fill your office with things that inspire and motivate you.

14. You should also have a bookcase filled with inspirational, motivational, informational, and educational books. The size of your bookcase is a pretty good predictor of your selling success.

You should also buy a couple of big three ring binders. Buy a couple of reams of 3-hole copy paper. There's a lot of good information available as downloads that you can print and file in these binders.

Clutter affects creativity. Every three months toss away everything in your office that isn't essential for your home office productivity.

As time goes by continue to add things to your office that make you more comfortable and more productive.

Just don't get too comfortable in your office. Do everything you can to optimize your face-to-face selling time with your sales prospects and customers - that's where the real action is.

Related Articles
  Taking Back Your Life
  How much Home Office Tax Dedcution can I Take?
  Legitimate Home Based Business - -Use These Tips to Organize Your Home Office
  Do you Qualify for Home Office Tax Deduction for Small Business Owners and Professionals?
  Home Business Tax Advantages

Home > Sales > Jim Meisenheimer > Selling In Your Home Office
Article Tags: apartment in new york, bedroom apartment, file cabinets, filing system, gamut, good lighting, half day, mile bike, priorities, productivity, profession, professional salespeople, protocols, reading 4, sales job, selling tools, those were the days, veteran, yellow folders, zero to three

About the Author: Jim Meisenheimer
RSS for Jim's articles - Visit Jim's website

 

Jim Meisenheimer publishes the Start Selling More Newsletter. The focus is on common sense sales tips and selling strategies based on practical ideas that get you immediate results. You can get more information and sign-up for my FREE Newsletter at http://www.startsellingmore.com

Discover the 12 Best Sales Questions To Ask Customers. When you ask these sales questions, you won't be selling you'll be solving your customer's problems. You'll close more sales when you ask these 12 clever sales questions. And your sales will take-off! Go here now: http://meisenheimer.com/products/salesquestions.htm




Click here to visit Jim's website
Dashed Line

More from Jim Meisenheimer
How To Give Great Speeches
Upside Down Salesmanship
Selling Scripts That Work
4 More Ways To Outsell Your Competitors
Boomers Are Booming


Related Forum Posts
Re: Trade Shows - Are They Worth It? Re: Trade Shows - Are They Worth It? - HI, I have used trade shows (not participated) to collect potential clients. For example, the Home & Garden Industry is extremely behind the time in regards to their websites. I attended an Home & Garden Expo in Denver and collected all the companies contact information. I plan on cold calling & mailing information to each business. It also gave me time to research the industry more, talk directly to the owners in many cases, and learn more about what they need. Jeff
Re: Kevin's Case Study #10 - When to become an entrepreneur? Re: Kevin's Case Study #10 - When to become an entrepreneur? - When the bug bite you. A lot of successful entrepreneurs started in their teens or at school. Selling sweets to fellow students or lemonade to firends in the neighbourhood.
Re: This is Marketing Warfare! Re: This is Marketing Warfare! - Hey GT, I guess this was from a while back, and it'll test your memory a bit but could you possibly elaborate on Unique Selling Proposition? Can you give us some examples of good USPs?
Blog pinging Blog pinging - Thanks Martin - yes, I do ping and it has been very effective. I'm currently on the first page of Google for Mastermind Group and on the second page for Selling to Small Business.
Books for Women Entrepreneurs Books for Women Entrepreneurs - There's a thread for good books in the Resources folder, but it doesn't target books for businesswomen particularly, so I figured I'd start such a thread here. It doesn't matter how successful you are in your business - it's always possible to learn something new. In subsequent posts I give Table of Contents and brief descriptions for various titles - most of them devoted to the businesswoman - and sometimes a review. If anyone else has read a review, or has read the book and found it useful, please comment! 1. The Old Girl's Network 2. Mother's Work 3. The 7 Greatest Truths About Successful Women 4. Pitch Like A Girl 5. Workplace Warrior 6. Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the Modern Consumer 7. Contingency Planning & Disaster Recovery 8. She Wins, You Win 9. Napoleon On Project Management 10. Why Good Girls Dont' Get Ahead, But Gutsy Girls Do 11. Comeback Moms: How to Leave Work, Raise Children, and Restart your Career even If you Haven't Had a Job in Years 12. The One Minute Millionaire 13. Talking From 9 to 5 14. Soloing: Realizing Your Life's Ambitions 15. 101 Best Home Based Businesses for Women: Everything You Need to Know About Getting Started on the Road To Success 16. Work With Passion: How to Do What You Love for a Living. Revised and Expanded 17. Fail-Proof Your Business: Beat the Odds and be Successful 18. Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End 19. Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide 20. Millionaire Women Next Door: The Many Journeys of Successful American Businesswomen 21. Start Small, Finish Big: Fifteen Key Lessons to Start - and Run - Your Own Successful Business 22. Rewired, Rehired or Retired: A Global Guide for the Experienced Worker 23. The Martha Rules: 10 essentials for achieving success as you start, build or manage a business 24. The Essentials of Entrepreneurship: What it takes to create Successful Enterprises 25. Net Ready: Strategies for Success in the E-conomy 26. The Promotable Woman 27. Leave The Office Earlier: The Productivity Pro shows you how to do more in less time and feel great about it 28. The Work At Home Balancing Act: The professional resource guide for managing yourself, your work, and your family at home 29. Secrets of Six-Figure Women


Recommended Article for You close

  Taking Back Your Life

Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.



Featured Article


Bottom Footer
Share for a Cause












Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Name:
Email:
Popular Articles

Selling On Ebay The Good The Bad And The Ugly

Selling with Humor (and a Sorry Butt)

BUILDING A HIGH PERFORMING TEAM

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.