“I would rather delay the meeting to a time that works where I don’t feel rushed, where I have the opportunity to prepare than to just accept that and do a meeting that I think is not going to be very good.” – Angie Donato in today’s Tip 982
Do you buffer between meetings?
Join the conversation below and check out the full interview with Angie!
Angie Donato on Sales Success Stories Interview
Angie Donato on LinkedIn
Gartner’s Website
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Transcript
Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today I’ve got a clip from last week’s interview episode on the Sales Success Stories podcast with Angie Donato. Angie is the top senior sales executive at Gartner in the HR practice and really got me thinking differently in this exchange during that conversation. Check it out:
I’m hearing there’s a lot of intentionality to your schedule in the way that you’re blocking time to schedule your week. You’re really intentional about getting outside and getting kind of those regular breaks and the exercise and the walks in. Also just being intentional about the way that I’m going to think about this for myself. Spacing meetings because wall to wall is just brutal.
Angie Donato: It is key and any time I have people that work with me and put meetings on my calendar, it’s one of the first things I say to them. It’s like, I know my limits, and I am not good when I’m doing back-to-back meetings. It’s just not something I’m good at, and I recognize that I’m not good at it. So I intentionally and you’re absolutely right. It is intentional. I will delay a meeting if I need to, right? If it’s like, Oh, they’re only available 3 to 4 on Monday, and I’m not, or I could be, but it’s back to back. I’ll move it. I would rather delay the meeting to a time that works where I don’t feel rushed, where I have the opportunity to prepare than to just accept that and do a meeting that I think is not going to be very good. It’s not going to be helpful for them for the person on the other end or for me.
Scott Ingram: That’s really interesting. What is your typical buffer or your minimum buffer?
Angie Donato: Minimum buffer is 15, but I usually do half an hour.
Scott Ingram: Okay. All right. You’re inspiring me to think about this.
Angie Donato: Good.
Scott Ingram: Because I don’t like that feeling of running from meeting to meeting. And you’re just sort of harried and you feel like you’re cutting somebody off because you’re like. I got to go. I’ve got a hard stop. I hate that.
Angie Donato: I hate it, too, and I find that’s what I’m doing it. I’m looking at the clock. I’m like, Oh, gosh, this is having a really great conversation. And you know what? I look at the clock I got and I’m not focusing. I’m not giving that person my full attention. I’m not doing a really good job. So for me, I need that, there are some people who can do it right. There are some people who are like, Oh, yeah, great. More the merrier. I just know I can’t.
Scott Ingram: To listen to this full interview and to connect with Angie directly, just click over to DailySales.Tips/982 and we’ll have those links for you there.
Once you’ve done that, be sure to come back tomorrow where I’ve got just a bit more from Angie for you. It’s great stuff. I’ll talk to you then. Thanks for listening!