America's Benefit Specialist January-February 2023

BEWARE THE CHRONOPHAGE

By Carol Matznick Director of Marketing Triune Technologies Greensboro, North Carolina cmatznick@triunetechnologies.com

No matter how many business hats you wear, you are, first and foremost, a salesperson. But how much of your time do you spend. . . selling? It is probably less than you think. According to the Center for Sales Strategy, data suggests that you only spend 30% of your time in actual sales-related activities. Included in that 30% are things like: time finding and qualifying new prospects; time and effort to set first ap pointments; discovery work with either a new prospect or an FIND A BA COMPANY FOUNDED BY ADVISORS JUST LIKE YOU AND NOT BY A BUNCH OF CODERS WHO DON’T KNOW THE INDUSTRY.

existing upsell opportunity; developing ideas and proposals; presenting proposals; and closing the sale. WHAT IS A CHRONOPHAGE? A chronophage is a sneaky beast keeping you from grow ing your practice—and you probably aren’t even aware it is happening! It is the critter eating the other 70% of your time. The word comes from the Ancient Greek words chronos and phage , which means “things that eat your time.” There are a few things to consider to stop feeling like your time is being nibbled to death by ducks. First, ask yourself if you are doing work that a service person could/should be doing. It is tempting to put off hiring account managers be cause of the cost of a full-time employee but, if you do the math, that is a false economy. Instead, consider how much more you could make if you spent that time on client-facing activities. Then there are the chores that are an inescapable part of the group medical business—chief among them the initial enrollment and the ongoing service requirements. For years,

8 ABS | benefitspecialistmagazine.com