Have I ever told you that I paddle in an outrigger canoe? See, I’ve always wanted to do something on the bay so I joined this club a few years ago. Since my travel schedule isn’t too hectic these days, I have decided to race with this group. Imagine that, me in competitive sports. This is new for me and I just raced in Berkeley this last weekend and was in the novice boat. We came in last place.
I didn’t think I was a competitive person but when I saw all the boats starting on time and watched them all get further and further ahead of me, something happened for me. I started blaming my steersperson for now motivating us enough, I blamed the rest of the team for not having enough power in the boat, I blamed the other boats who had better crews. The truth is that I wasn’t taking it as seriously and got sloppy.
Building a competitive mind takes practice, motivation and focus. Showing up is 50% of it but motivating yourself, preparing, learning the landscape, delivering more than expected, and not thinking about losing is the secret. When I talk with highly competitive salespeople, losing is not even an option.
I’m sure you are hearing lots about the R word- That stands for Recession. Are we officially in one? Have we been in one? Is it happening? Will it get worst? Regardless, it’s important to sell like you’ve never sold before. Get to know your competition and understand what your customers like about your competition. Check out Paul Cherry’s article on Encouraging Customers to Reconsider Existing Vendor Relationships and I’m very impressed with Paul McCord’s article titled, Recognizing Your Biggest Competitor.
Paul writes about the “omnipresent competitor” which is your prospect’s decision to do nothing because of either apathy or indecision. It’s so true that most sales are lost because of indecision than all other sales combined. Remember my favorite definition of salespeople is one where they help people buy. It’s your job to help someone decide to buy and to not confuse them, paralyze them, pressure them, forget about them into deciding to just “hold off” or “build it in-house” instead.
I love the Nike, “Just Do It” ads. Talk about meaningful branding, it is so simple to remember and yet it means so much.
There is a fine between being fearful and fearless and we are the only ones who can control this state. I’m a big Yoga student and my most fearful pose is headstand, otherwise known as Adho Mukha Vriksasana. I practice it almost everyday and I don’t think I’m making any headway. The problem with the pose is my head. Not that I don’t like it being upside down or banging it against the wall. It’s what goes on inside my head. The self-sabotage and thinking that infects my confidence and allows a wave of fear to suddenly crash over me. My hands start sweating, my heart starts racing, my body gets stiff and I am become paralyzed and can’t get up.
When I’m in class, my Yoga instructor orders up in the pose very quickly. “Don’t stop and think, just do it” he shouts. By the time I walk across the room and face the empty wall where I will jump to, the fear has entered and I’m useless.
In sales, we need to constantly improve and when we feel fear and panic, it keeps us down. How many times has your sales manager asked you to contact your prospect’s boss and you become fearful? What about when you think you are going to lose a deal because something happened at the last minute.
Don’t let fear or panic slow you down. Just do it. Here’s a great Russian Nike YouTube video to watch:
“I’m sorry I just can’t help you, that is something you will have to figure out.”
That’s what I heard yesterday when I approached someone about my creative paralysis. That response flattened me out temperarily and then the pendulum swung back to full force.
Perhaps it’s the rebel in me who hears NO and says, watch this. Perhaps it’s the hopeful part of me that believes there is always a way and NO is not the path. Perhaps it’s the ambitious side of me that believes we fail when we say, I’ll try it or I can’t do it. So when I hear NO from someone else about my work and my contribution, I feel compelled to convince them otherwise.
It is a sad sales reality when many salespeople accept NO from someone who can’t say YES.
Based on the retail results from this year’s Black Friday, I don’t think I was missed. Besides, I usually like to shop in private. The many years I spent in the fashion industry in my college days have paid off when it comes to shopping. I know exactly where to go, what to look for and when to buy it. I understand mark-down cycles and strategies and retail real estate. Black Friday is just a way to get the shopping mojo going- everyone is hungry for a shopping experience.
Today, I was hungry for a different type of experience as I spent half-day at St Anthony’s serving up breakfast and lunch to San Francisco’s hungry and homeless. A group of volunteers gathered today to serve about 1500 meals to people who sat in line for hours on this cold November day.
There is a language I was reminded of today, it is one of dignity and respect. It honors each person and treats them with the kindness and generosity and acceptance they deserve. I much rather be here today than on some crowded Nordstrom escalator.
I don’t believe cold calling is dead and although social networking is hot and hardly anyone answers their phones anymore, I am not convinced. Today, I ventured out into the prospecting realm as it’s been awhile since I really worked the phones. I felt out of shape, sluggish, and lacked good articulation. My prospecting muscle had atrophied and I could tell my list of reasons not to prospect were getting longer and longer until I realized it was an excuse to keep me off the phones.
I opened up my tools and started gathering names and calling. I spent about 3 hours just navigating into one company, collecting names and sending email introductions out. A few people answered their phones and gave me 2 minutes on the call to explain what I do and a few others wouldn’t talk but wanted info first. I talked with nice executive assitants who gave me more names and even a brilliant receptionist by the name of Sally who remembered everyone in the company and could update 6-8 names for me in one call.
I got a real work-out today but I feel I’m just getting warmed up. I like this part of selling the most which is why I’ve created a business on this. I just read Bill Caskey’s blog on Occam’s Razor and he suggests cold calling only to referral sources and I tend to believe that is the lazy salesperson route as I like to be authentic and intuitive in my prospecting efforts.
This blog is dedicated to the champions who pound the phones each day creating new sales opportunities. The ones who call up to 30-40 people per day and spread the sales talk. Keep up the good work.
It’s been 18 months and 388 blog posts since I first ventured into the blogsphere. Today, my writing life is full and my blog is my business partner, my confidante, my inspiration and my mirror.
Why do I blog? Mainly because I love to write and communicate my thoughts, ideas and values to the world. I like to get up close and personal with inside sales people as well as field sales, service and support teams.
Sometimes I think I’m moving very slow on a highway that is racing. Other times, I feel I’m speeding in a 25 miles per hour zone. Today I am going at exactly the right pace.
I want to dedicate this blog posting to YOU. Thanks for stopping by and reading a post or two, thanks for the time you take to read and comment, thanks for your kind words of support and most of all, thanks for being my inspiration.
I have compiled my top 50 list of favorite blog post- here is the best of the Life in the Telebusiness Blog:
It’s the beginning of a new week after a long and confusing holiday week which proceeded quarter-end. How’s your motivation this Monday? Many salespeople make the same mistake and wonder why they are getting burned out and losing their motivation. Make sure to not fall into these 5 motivational traps:
External focus- Whether you are blaming your territory, manager, product or this time of year. It’s easy to look outside of yourself for what isn’t working instead of doing more introspective work abour your values and your goals.
Comfort zone- Many of us hang out out with the familiar regardless of whether it’s the right for us. It’s what we know how to do best and what we default to. Shake things up, take a new turn and you’ll get different results.
The quick fix- Stop looking for low-hanging fruit and make something happen. This great weather can create summer laziness, our work days may feel shorter because we have other commitments so we tend to focus on where we can get the fastest results. Take that step back and design a strategy, road map and plan.
Happy ears- Any prospect who wants to talk about our product, service and solution is welcome to do so but ask them to pull the trigger and make a purchase and they bolt. Spend more time finding the decision-makers who can make something happen and listening for pain and compelling events.
Still Waiting- What are you waiting for? Decide on your top 3 priorities and make them happen now.
Are too many rejection emails crowding your inbox?
What’s your best rebuttal strategy?
Are you looking for creative ways to counter the 10 toughest customer objections?
Taking Email Control is the hot topic - tune in today from 10:00-11:00am PST for our Resuscitating Rejection Emails free webinar I will host today. Hurry and sign up, we’ve got record breaking registrants.
I have a pet peeve about this phrase. Quite frankly, it’s a cop-out. You always wonder what is the person really saying here? Is it:
I really want to go but I’ll make it sound like you really want to go.
I don’t have much more to say so I’ll cut this short.
I fear rejection so I’ll just make it easy on everyone here.
Let’s talk about the people who fear rejection . If they are in sales, this may be the wrong profession. If that could be you, here are some characteristics:
They lack assertiveness and avoid speaking up and sharing their opinion
They lack influence
They lack courage and avoid confrontation
They demonstrate passive/aggressive behavior and may be dishonest
They may play games and keep their personal feelings hidden
They may be angry and had a traumatic experience of rejection in the past
They are confused and don’t know how to best move forward
They lack the social skills and may not suffer from social isolation
They may be obsessed by acting in a certain “prescribed” manner that they are rigid and inflexible
They are not honest with themselves so they lack trust in anything else
When a person operates out of a fear of rejection, they end up pushing prospects, friends and family away. When they push them away, they create the rejection and the cycle continues.
If you can relate to some of these characteristics, here are steps to overcome fear of rejection:
1. Dig deep to understand what is driving the behavior or feelings
2. Work at building your self-esteem and confidence
3. Let people in and allow yourself to ask for help
4. Tell the truth, stop telling stories and lies
5. Create healthy alternative behaviors and include more questions
We’ve heard the term “peeling the onion” many times and it’s very descriptive when it comes to objections. Sales is one of the few professions which taxes your emotional strength and courage. You have to be pretty thick skinned to succeed in sales because you are risking rejection on a regular basis.
This week I am dedicating my blog entries to objections. Everything from why we create objections to the types we receive from our customers and how to best rebut from them.
Tune in on Wednesday, June 6th from 10:00-11:00am and listen to the webinar on Resuscitating Rejection Emails and win a free gift.
