15 Productivity Hacks to Up Your Sales Game

Well, it’s finally here: time to actually circle back with your prospects from December. 

To say January is a busy month in B2B sales is an understatement. You’re hitting the ground running for Q1 and learning about new initiatives all while picking up everything that was put on hold last year. You’ll need some serious productivity hacks to get it all done (and meet your quota). 

Lucky for you, we’ve got a whole list of tips to max out your productivity. 15 of them, in fact. Give some of these a try:

1. Focus on one thing at a time

Contrary to popular belief, multitasking doesn’t actually help you get more done. 

When you’re multitasking, what you’re really doing is going from one thing to another, switching your focus back and forth. And your brain has to adjust to that new context every time.

So even though multitasking makes you feel busy and like you’re getting a lot done at once, it can actually reduce your productivity by a whopping 40%. 

Instead of trying to prospect, demo prep, and organize your CRM all at the same time, take it in chunks. The best way to focus and move things forward is to direct your attention toward one thing at a time. 

One way to streamline your focus is to group similar activities together (like in our next tip).

2. Batch similar tasks

Once you’re in the groove, it disrupts your productivity to suddenly switch to something else. 

Here’s what Matt Heinz from Heinz Marketing suggests:

Instead of going from, say, making a cold call to going into your CRM to sending a follow-up email, try batching your activities. “Make 10 calls all at once. Keep notes on a pad of paper for any unique follow-ups. Then do all of your CRM and follow-up work at once. This batching of activities is proven to be faster and more efficient than doing everything in a linear sequence over and over and over again.”

Another example: If you have a two-hour call block, plan out which prospects you’re going to cold-call. Do all your research for those prospects before that scheduled time. Then, during your call block, you can just pull up your research, making it easy to have personalized conversations based on the work you’ve already done. 

3. Schedule distraction time

Distraction is inevitable. No one can be productive for 8 hours straight every day without burning out. 

So instead of fighting distraction, budget for it! As you build out activity blocks on your calendar, go ahead and add in some “distraction time.” You can use it for anything from checking your phone to chatting with coworkers. 

Your brain will eventually demand a break, so go ahead and schedule in your distractions. That way, they can stay out of your focus time. 

4. Do the hard thing first

What’s your least favorite part of your day? Come on, everyone has one. Maybe it’s logging your activity in the CRM. Maybe it’s cold calling. Maybe it’s taking the latest training about your product’s new features. Chances are, it’s probably something big and important.

Whatever it is, having that one thing you dread doing hanging over your head all day isn’t exactly going to do wonders for your efficiency. So instead, go ahead and “eat the frog” (yep, that’s the term for it). 

Do that big, looming, important thing that requires deep focus first thing in the morning. When you get the most difficult task done right away, then you’ve already set yourself up for a good day. And you an move on to focusing on your other urgent tasks without worrying about The Big One. 

5. Practice structured procrastination

Does this directly contradict our previous suggestion? Maybe. Are these both still good tips? Yep! 

The point of productivity is that what works for one person might not work for another. So maybe you simply can’t swallow the frog right away in the morning, and planning to tackle it first means that you end up putting off everything. 

If that’s the case, then make your natural urge to procrastinate work for you. It’s kind of like when you don’t want to clean the kitchen so you do your laundry first: if you put off one important thing by doing another, you’re still checking things off of your to-do list. 

Instead of getting stuck in task paralysis staring down that frog, then practice productive procrastination and just start ticking off your smaller tasks. That way, you can still get a lot of work done – with the added boost of motivation you get from feeling accomplished.  

6. Use templates and scripts

Personalization is important – no one will argue against that. But that doesn’t mean you need to reinvent the wheel every time you send an email or pick up the phone. That would be super inefficient. 

So instead of starting with a rigid, soulless script or a completely blank slate, aim for somewhere in the middle with a template you can adjust for each situation. 

Create email templates and call scripts for a variety of purposes like outreach, follow-up, meeting reminders, etc. That way, you have something you can plug and play that you already know works, saving you valuable time in planning your prospect communication. 

7. Automate where possible 

Manual or repetitive tasks are the enemy of productivity. Luckily, we live in an age of automation. Things that don’t require direct focus you can set and forget instead of doing it manually. 

Here’s a few ways you can automate: 

• Use a tool like Zapier to automate tedious tasks data entry and lead handoffs
• Set up email sequences to automate basic follow-up
• Use AI tools to summarize meetings and other important information
• Set up automated enrichment of your CRM with Lusha

8. Clean up your CRM

Speaking of enriching your CRM, it turns out that’s pretty important for boosting your productivity. Your CRM is your organization’s single source of truth for everything related to leads and sales. 

But if the data in that CRM is incorrect, then you’re going to waste time trying to find important information or following up with the wrong data. And hoo boy, we’ve got news for you: most CRMs are full of dirty data– incomplete, outdated, and duplicated. 

So if you want to be efficient, you’ve got to get that cleaned up – stat. Lucky for you, this doesn’t have to be a manual process. Use Lusha to automate your CRM enrichment, whether you use Salesforce or another CRM. 

9. Track your time 

We know, we know – tracking your activities is another thing to add to your to-do list. But before you write off this suggestion, hear us out. 

When you consistently track your time, you can get some interesting insights that will help you be more efficient (as long as you’re honest). 

Tracking your time helps you understand how much time you spend on various sales activities. This can help you pinpoint any problem areas, find opportunities for greater efficiency, and maybe even identify tasks you can delegate to others. Without the actual data about how you’re spending your time, it’s hard to make decisions about your productivity beyond an educated guess. 

Another benefit? Time-tracking can “gamify” your tasks. If you know it usually takes you two hours to complete a particular task, you might have more motivation to beat your own record. 

You can use a tool like Toggl to track time, or you can start with something as simple as a spreadsheet that includes columns for: 

• Date
• Start Time
• End Time
• Duration
• Task Type
• Notes

10. Prioritize your leads

The quickest, most efficient way to get results in sales? Go after the hottest leads first instead of wasting time on tire-kickers. 

Seems basic, but it’s often easier said than done. How do you single out the leads that are most likely to convert? There’s lead scoring, of course, but maybe you want to punch it up even more. If you want to add real power to your lead prioritization, try intent data. 

The concept is simple: only 15% of your potential buyers are actively in-market at any given time. So if you want to close deals fast, you need to try and find that 15%. Intent data shows companies (and their specific locations) that are actively researching a solution like the one you offer. 

Cross-reference that with your ideal customer profile (ICP) and other lead-scoring criteria, and you know exactly which leads to put at the top to tackle first. 

11. Optimize your tech stack

Sales tools are supposed to make your job easier. But sometimes, managing them all feels like it could be a full-time job in itself. 

It’s important to choose tools that won’t overwhelm you and make your job more complicated. Sometimes that means finding an all-in-one tool. But if you can’t find one tool that does everything you need, that’s okay. In fact, it’s more realistic to have several tools and work to optimize your tech stack. 

Instead of just one tool, you can go for tools that “play nice” with each other. Like Lusha, for example. We integrate with some of the biggest names in the biz (Hubspot, Salesforce, Zapier, Outreach, Salesloft, and more). Using Lusha you can align your tools and avoid tedious data entry, giving you back more time to go and chase those leads. 

12. Use extensions or apps that boost productivity

Sometimes you need a little extra help to stay productive. 

Explore apps that can help you focus and do your work efficiently. Here are a few examples: 

• Forest is a phone app that helps you focus. When you open the app, you plant a tree that grows while you do your work. If you leave the app before the timer is up (a.k.a., get distracted on your phone), the tree dies. But if you don’t, you get another tree to add to your forest. 
• SelfControl on Mac lets you blocklist websites you’re prone to wasting time on (like YouTube). Just list out the websites, set the timer, and go. You won’t be able to access those sites (even after restarting the computer) until the timer is up. 
• Noisli is a background noise generator that helps you stay focused through customizable “soundscapes.” So if you need to drown out watercooler chat in the office or barking dogs at home – or if you just focus better with a little background noise – Noisli has got you covered. 
• We’re all trained like Pavlov’s dogs – we get an email notification, we go and check the inbox. Unfortunately, this doesn’t bode well for productivity. Inbox When Ready is a Chrome extension that pauses your email notifications and hides your inbox by default until you’re ready to use it. 

While we’re on the topic of extensions and apps, it’s also helpful to use sales tools that can follow you wherever you go on the internet, like Lusha Everywhere – our extension that works over LinkedIn, company websites, and even your Gmail. That way, you don’t have to waste time switching between tabs (and maybe getting lost among them in the process). Everything you need to keep doing your job is right there with you. 

13. Make your workspace work for you

Your environment can play a big part in your productivity, so dedicate a few minutes to revamp your desk setup. A few basic changes to consider include: 

• Declutter your desk (and your desktop).
• Add a monitor.
• Have a tray for stray documents.
• Keep your agenda/notebook nearby and within reach.

But we could get way more specific. Try out some of these more unusual suggestions to optimize your workspace: 

• Set up your workspace so the task you need to complete is your main focus. For example, if you want to tackle some CRM admin, then make it so your CRM is the first thing that pops up on your computer– not buried several clicks deep.
• Get a potted plant for your desk. Adding a little greenery to your workspace can increase productivity by 15%.
• Turn up the temp. A Cornell study found that employees were half as productive when the office was cold (68 degrees vs. 77 degrees). The idea is this: if you’re cold, your body spends more energy warming you up, leaving you with less to concentrate and come up with ideas. 

14. Break big tasks into smaller chunks

You ever heard the idiom about how you eat an elephant? The answer is: one bite at a time. It’s a bit of a weird one – why would you want to eat an elephant? – but the concept is helpful.

Every big, daunting task or goal can be tackled if you take it a little bit at a time. So how do you go about breaking those big tasks into bite-sized pieces?

• Break your big goal down into smaller categories: what tools do you need? Who needs to be involved? What steps do you need to take?
• For each category, come up with tasks that take 20 minutes or less that will help you complete that part of the project.
• Prioritize your 20-minute chunks based on importance and timelines. 
• Add these small tasks to your calendar, plotting them out so you can complete your big task by the end of your deadline (whether that’s an external or internal deadline).

Next thing you know, you’ll have eaten that elephant of a task – 20 minutes at a time. 

15. Rethink your to-do list 

Sometimes an average to-do list just doesn’t cut it. If you want to hack your productivity, try hacking your to-do list. 

One way to motivate yourself? Cross out the next item on your to-do list before you’ve actually finished it. This is an easy way to trick your brain into just doing the thing. Since you’ve already marked it as “done,” you’ll be that much more motivated to make it so. 

Another way to dupe your brain into being more productive is to write down things you’ve already done, even if they’re not related to work. Like “walk the dog” or “eat a healthy breakfast.” If you’ve got a big, long to-do list with a bunch of stuff already crossed off, your brain will think you’re on a roll. That means you’ll feel the momentum and want to keep it going.

Get comfortable with trial and error.

The new year is always a good time to evaluate your old way of doing things and establish some new habits. Try putting some of these tips into practice and find what brings you the most success. 

Everyone works a little differently, so productivity hacks aren’t one-size-fits-all. But if you play around and experiment with the advice we’ve listed, you can find something that does the trick for you. And make sure every tool you use helps you do your job well – like Lusha, which you can use to clean up your CRM and streamline your prospecting.