In his latest book, “To Sell Is Human,” author Daniel Pink extols the importance of “buoyancy,” stating that the “broadening effect of positive emotions has important consequences for moving others.”
Sales reps may be able to laugh off the emotional swings of the profession after the fact, but the reality is the depths of disappointment or frustration they encounter during any given day can bring productivity to a screeching halt. “Negative feelings, frustration, and disappointment are killers of your business, productivity and income,” says sales coach Mark Heerema (BetterYourBestNow.com).
He offers four tips for fighting off discouragement and keeping a positive sales momentum rolling:
Change expectations: Reps can’t expect a call back from a voice mail. They need to stay in charge so they are not reacting to lack of action on the prospect’s part.
The magic number rule: Every prospect will take a predetermined amount of attempts to reach; the salesperson just doesn’t know what that number is until she reaches it. If a rep hasn’t gotten the prospect to talk on the phone, she hasn’t called them enough yet. It’s simply a mind game. Are they going to get frustrated about it, or just realize the prospect will pick up when the right number is hit?
Play the odds: Reps can’t afford to lose a sale because they are not prepared. If they have a 20-second pitch, they should have that down so pat that they could do it in their sleep during a bad dream. If they know they delivered the most effective cold call intro, request for an appointment, or answer to an objection and the prospect still responds negatively, what else could be done? As long as they swing the best bat they know to swing, there’s nothing else they can do. A salesperson needs to own his part; if it is executed well and still doesn’t work, move on. Someone else is ready.
Set activity-based goals: If salespeople take action on the most important pieces of their sales game, good results should follow. Goals should be centered on results and activities they can accomplish — i.e., the number of phone calls they make — not the responses from prospects.
The power of the sales professional is in process, execution and action. Keeping goals focused on activity puts the emphasis and pressure on the ability to work toward an end that a salesperson has control of. As long as the right activities are done well, the results will follow.
