Becoming a super time manager

By Bill Blades William Blades. LLC Gold Canyon, Az.

per day. Count the hours this now tolals and multiply by 25O work days. It's a staggering number. Yes. he looks efficient, but he is not beins effective. Efficiencv is doing things right. Effectiveness is doisrg the right things to begin with. Big difference here.

The v.p. of sales needs to harness her time more so than anyone else. And she needs to help her salespeople do the same. Why? The average salesperson loses three-and-a-half hours a day. The v.p. and the troops need to maintain focus on the target accounts they want to land and keep. Yet,"the smaller clients often get as much time as the larger clients

When the v.p. goes into *re neta. she must make sure that breakfast, lunch, dinners.arrd. client visits in between are widr tafget accounts and

An Open Door Policy

becomes an invitation for anyone to barge in and needlessly chew up the president's time not with one of the salesperson's "comfort zone" clients. And the routes taken need to be in order, not in a zig-zag manner. If the salesperson is haphazard in laying out the events of the day, you have two people in the car losing time.

I mentioned earlier that many salespeople lose three-and-a-half hours a day. That equals 875 hours or

22 weeks in a year. Now, does it make sense for the v.p. to be extremely focused? If the v.p. is haphazard, the salespeople will probably be also. So goes the v.p., so go the salespeople' fiFTEN pricey additions for a \-fhomeowner, columns can add even more to a home's resale value and elegant appearance. So, make sure your customers get the right products for the job by asking the right questions:

Most salespeople lose an abundance of time every day due to an accumulatioir of starting the day later than top per'formers do, calling bn the "wroog" clients and people too long, cixdUcting "service calls" on comfort-zone clients, laying out client visits in a haphazard manner, not getting the visit aecomplished in a businesslike manrter along with many more time wasters.

Hig! performers schedule many of their first appointments as breakfast mffings. Scheduling three breakfast taeetings at 7:00 a.m. equals 150 more client visits in a year-and it equals 150 calls made before your competitors make their first ones.

High performers understand that time is their real currency. use it or lose it. They understand that losing just five minutes daily equals 1,250 minutes annually. Sound trivial? It isn't. If you want to earn $100,000, you must think and act like a $100,000 person does. They understand that each minute, gained or lost, is worth 85P. Again, small potatoes? No, because that translates to $12,000 annually if you pick up 60 minutes daily.

Bill Blades, CMC, CPS, is a professional speaker and consultant specializing in sales and leadership issues. He can be reached at (480) 67 I -3000.

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$ ls ttre application load-bearing or simply decorative?

Columns can be used for structural support as well as for decorative purposes. As such, various columns will bear different amounts of weight. Their load bearing capacity is directly related to the surface area of the lumber used, the length of the column and the compression strength of the particular wood species. Manufacturers can provide tables showing exact capacities.

The thickness of the stave is another important indicator of a column's strength (thickness also influences the price). A stave that is too thin won't provide adequate support or withstand the rigors of architectural detail work.

While great for lightweight, decorative applications, expanded polystyrene (foam) is non-load bearing.

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$ Are the columns for interior or exterior use?

Wood columns must be ventilated when installed outdoors. "It is the same effect that you get when you wear glasses or sunglasses outside in the heat from an air-conditioned interior," says Jeff Davis, Chadsworth's l.800.Columns, Wilmington, N.C. "Your glasses will begin to perspire. The same effect happens to columns when the temperature on the outside of the column is one degree and the interior is another degree."

Adequate ventilation must be provided at the top of the column by a vented recessed soffit and at the bottom by the plinth or plates. The ventilation must be maintained at all times.

Flashing should be used for exterior capitals to prevent moisture from entering the column shaft. Premium grade caulking also should be applied where the capital meets the beam and rests on the column shaft.

It is not necessary to ventilate interior wooden columns, but you must always ventilate wooden columns when used outside. Fiberglass/composite, expanded polystyrene and stone columns do not have to be ventilated for interior or exterior use.

If the columns are to be installed outdoors, climate becomes a factor. Several manufacturers claim that fiberglass composite makes for virturally indestructible columns.

While wood columns require oilbased primer and paint (zinc-free, if for redwood) and fiberglass accommodates exterior paint, different primers and paints work best in different weather conditions.

Species used for exterior column shafts include redwood, western red cedar, pine, and a variety of other clear western wood species, with staves offered in both solid or fingerjointed construction. For interior applications, pine, poplar, mahogany, cherry, oak or virtually any commercially available wood species may be specified.

(. S Will the columns be used to disguise existing poles and beams?

Wrapping around structural supports is one of the most frequent uses of columns today. Wood and expanded polystyrene columns can be split in half for reassembly around structural members. The inside clearance of the shaft, though, first must be determined. If it is a pole, subtract the thickness of the lumber from the top diameter. If it is a square piece, get the diagonal. o S Witt the columns be stored before installation? lf the columns are to be installed outdoors, climate becomes a factor.

Prolonged storage is not recommend for wooden columns and decorative capitals. If they must be stored prior to installation, first sand, prime, fill and paint columns, then keep them in a dry, well ventilated place in an upright position.

Wooden columns and decorative capitals, in fact, should be primed as soon as they are delivered, then treated with two coats of oil-based paint.