Don’t worry, it’s not you—it’s your inbox. In fact, we’ve learned that the average salesperson spends as many as 30 hours per week just answering emails. Imagine how much more productive you’d be if you could use those hours closing deals!

So what’s contributing to your inbox overload? As a sales rep, you’re always on the go. The nature of your job makes it challenging for you to keep on top of every customer interaction in real time. That means you are slower than you’d like to be when it comes to following up on proposals or scheduling those much-needed face time with customers.

It’s time to streamline your email and get a handle on lingering opportunities.  We have a few ideas that might help get you thinking about how use your inbox to drive more sales:

Walk Away from your desk

It’s time you branch out from only doing business from your desktop. As we mentioned before, you’re not really closing most of your deals from your desk. Being on the go means you need to run your business on the go, too. How do you make that happen? Shop around for email software that will allow you to access the most crucial information (customer contacts and opportunities) from your phone.

Let your inbox do the grunt work

What if your inbox was smart enough to analyze all of your communications and identify opportunities? This would really help you prioritize your day! Consider investing in email extensions that can see which customers are engaging with your emails. Once you’ve mastered that, learn how to get smart reminders to help you stay on top of those deals that are close to the finish line.

Dump the busy work

You know exactly what we’re talking about: all those back-and-forth emails trying to set up one coffee date. Just stop. Look around at smart email software that will strip your day of busy work and let you focus on what’s important: your customers. Consider using email templates that will help you reply instantly. There are also cool features out there that let prospects insert directly into your calendar times when they’re available to meet with you. How cool!

We know that the amount of production that goes into closing a deal is as big as the competition; the modern day sales rep doesn’t have much time to toggle between apps to make things happen fast. And they don’t have to. There are plenty of opportunities out there to make your email work for you instead of you working for it.

Are you looking for more tips on how to close more deals? Download our free e-book, 5 Secrets of the Most Productive Salespeople.