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A Survival Kit for the “Sales Road Warrior”

Jamie Shanks
Jamie Shanks

Google

Survior KitWhile I typically write about the benefits of Social Selling, due to my upcoming business travel, I thought it might be nice to share some travel survival tips from a Sales Road Warrior. Much to the chagrin of my wife, I will be traveling for business to the following cities over the next 5 weeks; Boston, San Francisco,Washington, D.C.,Cancun, Mexico, Miami,Los Angeles (3 times), Nashville and Mexico City.

When you log these kind of miles (like the 1,000’s of sales reps I meet on my travels), you need a process to make everything painless.

Here are my personal Travel Tips For Sanity:

  • Airport Valet Parking – even though the price of a taxi from my house to the airport is roughly the same as driving and parking, I still like driving there. Toronto’s Pearson International is a scrambled mess most of the time, so I pull up to the front door and valet park right at US Customs. Don’t park 15 minutes away to save a buck!
  • Global Entry – if you’re a corporate traveler and DON’T have Global Entry, you’ve been jealously watching me cut 1 hour customs & security lines like I’m a rock star! I’m only 1 fingerprint scan away from the flight gate.
  • Airport Lounge – why wait at the gate with 100’s of mouth-breathers. Get a lounge pass (even if you have to pay), so you can relax in a Lazyboy, with free Wi-Fi, sipping a Guinness awaiting your flight. The business atmosphere in the lounge will make you feel like you’re traveling for a purpose… to win business!
  • Flight points to get you an Upgrade to Business Class – find one airline, and stick with it. Because I live in Toronto, Air Canada, US Airways & United are my airlines of choice (Star Alliance). I collect so many points that I get upgraded + have free flights for my wife and I for personal holidays.
  • Tablet for in-flight work – don’t pull out your 12 pound IBM laptop onto your airline dinner tray. Give yourself room by having a tablet to work on quickly and easily.
  • Uber – the second the plane lands, I hit my Uber app. Within 5-10 minutes, a black Mercedes is waiting for me outside, ready to take me anywhere. Forget renting cars in a city you don’t know, I like riding in an $80,000 car in style so I can work in the backseat. It’s also cheaper than renting a car many times.
  • In room fridge – anyone that knows me, knows I like to fly in/out of a city in the same day if I can. I’ve done Toronto-Vancouver-Toronto (also Los Angeles and back) in 1 day. But if I’m staying the night, I love having a room fridge so I can store breakfast, extra water and perhaps a beer in the fridge. You don’t feel reliant on the hotel kitchen, and you’ll stop eating heavy/greasy breakfasts.
  • Mike & Mike in the Morning – as a Canadian, we don’t have Mike & Mike in the Morning on TV. Also, I find every hotel has different TV stations, so I never know what to expect. The local news isn’t relevant, but sports are great for conversations starters. Mike & Mike is consistent… always there. Mike & Mike as I get ready in the morning, gives me talking points on sports I don’t know much about. It’s like watching Jim Cramer’s Mad Money so you can talk 30 seconds of the stock market with a client. Remember, I’m a sales guy, and my buyers (sales leaders) have an affinity for sports. Goes with the territory.

If you don’t want to be left behind the 8 ball – you need to start to take action. The following dozen blog posts on utilizing Social Selling strategies using LinkedIn can help you start. If you are really looking for some hidden gems on how you can attract a very specific prospect, I recommend you check out – 10 Steps to Building a Social Selling Machine. Find the topic of Social Selling interesting? Click below to book a time in my calendar to explore further! So what are you waiting for? Download the below guides . 9 Step Thumb10 Step Book Jamie Shanks Social Selling Talks

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