How Do You Use Your Sales Commissions?

What do you do when you have a big sales week, month or quarter?

What do the other salespeople you work with do with their money?

Do you "reward" yourself? Do you "invest" in your future?

As salespeople we are notoriously known for the amount of toys we buy with our commissions. Killer stereo systems. Picture Cell Phones. Titanium Palm Pilots. Luxurious new clothes. Expensive lunches. Partying with our friends.

We say "I deserve this."

I know that's what I used to say.

Sales is hard. It gets all of our emotions riled up. Excitement. Fear. Anger. Juice. The thrill of the kill.

Your emotions are intense and very real.

So you want to reward yourself.

Rewarding yourself, is your way of feeling good after all you put yourself through to make the sales you did.

It's a natural reaction to going through times of feeling fear, frustration, and stress.

Before we close another big sale we often feel fear.

Fear that you won't close again.

Fear that you've lost your edge.

Fear that you will get fired and lose your job.

And then when you do make the sale, WHAM! Excitement! Elation! Relief!

It's time to play!

This rollercoaster can be a lot of fun. But it also can be costly to your future.

Sales offers a real opportunity for men and women everywhere to make large sums of money and get out of the rat race.

The more you say "I deserve this" and "reward" yourself with toys and indulgences, the longer you be working for someone else in sales.

If you want to eventually get out of the rat race, you've got to have a reward system that will help you do it.

Consumption rewards just bandage you up and make you feel good for a little while.

Then you're back at the sales game again, looking for more sales and the cycle starts over again: fear, frustration, stress, win, excitement, reward.

I know. I've been through this many times myself.

I can remember one of my first big sales wins. I took my sales partner and our wives out for a luxurious dinner at a restaurant that I was very impressed with. It felt great that night to dine well and drink champagne.

But the next day I was worrying about the next deal, with a few hundred dollars less in my bank account.

I repeated this pattern of pain - win - reward for many years before I realized what I was doing to myself.

Then I changed my focus.

I focused on the future, and set some bigger goals for myself.

I changed my reward system. I now measure my rewards in terms of how much closer I am getting to complete financial independence.

Consumption is nice, and my family and I do live well.

But I am much happier focusing on the day that making money will be optional and not a necessity of my daily existence. It's important to budget your commissions intelligently.

When you get a big commission check, take a substantial portion of it and save it. Build up your financial stockpile.

Set better goals for yourself. Goals such as "I want to make $200K this year" aren't enough. You need to be more specific. You need to set goals for what you will do with this money (hint: complete financial independence is one of mine).

What you'll find when you build your financial stockpile is that the fear, frustration and stress you experience decreases.

And by setting bigger and better goals, you'll find it easier to build your financial stockpile because you'll have highly motivating goals to keep you on course.

After all, did you really get into sales to just so you could buy the latest and greatest cell phone every year?

© 1999-2004 Shamus Brown, All Rights Reserved.

Shamus Brown is a Professional Sales Coach and former high-tech sales pro who began his career selling for IBM. Shamus has written more than 50 articles on selling and is the creator of the popular Persuasive Selling Skills CD Audio Program. You can read more of Shamus Brown's sales tips at http://Sales-Tips.industrialEGO.com/ and you can learn more about his persuasive sales skills training at http://www.Persuasive-Sales-Skills.com/

---

Sales Trap - We Love to Talk, But Need to Listen

My research has clearly shown that, when it comes to... Read More

Increasing Your Sales FASTER -- Dealing with Ill Think It Over.

Do you frequently hear that from a prospect?"I'll Think It... Read More

Six Simple Steps to Increase Sales and Decrease Stress

Have you ever found a lead on a scrap of... Read More

Anticipating the Audiences Reaction

Obviously, you can not know all of the things that... Read More

The Biggest Mistake in Sales Prospecting

Recently I received a prospecting voice mail message from a... Read More

Boost Your Productivity, Networking and Sales: Make an Impression

Through out our career and lives we regularly get an... Read More

7 Ways to Get to the Truth: When the Sale Disappears

Based on his most recent e-mail, "Everything looks good --... Read More

Top 5 Low Cost Ways To Get More Sales Leads And Sell More Without Cold Calling

Cold calling may now be outdated. People have become defensive... Read More

Three Ways To Get A Prospect To Say Yes To Your Offer

Here are three proven ways that will increase your sales:1.... Read More

Reaching Goals in Direct Sales

From surveys and experience, we've noticed many setting excellent goals... Read More

Resistance Training for Sales People

What was the quickest rejection you ever got? 2 minutes... Read More

A Sale in 30 Seconds? Its all in the Greeting

It has been said that a customer makes a decision... Read More

Equal Chance of Winning The Sale? Bah!

Are you going to win this deal? With just less... Read More

Do You Have to Be Aggressive to Make Sales?

A few weeks ago I was onsite at a company... Read More

Be Yourself

Here's the thing... you still have to make every marketing... Read More

Successful Sales Strategies: Winning the Close Ones

The "Three Cs" in building customer relationships are a key... Read More

Emotions That Sell, Part 2

In the last article, we looked at three emotions (besides... Read More

Customers - Always be Focused on Them

I was looking at some promotional literature and web sites... Read More

Spend More Time Selling

On average a sales person spends less than two hours... Read More

5 Specific Questions Your Sales Letters Must Answer To Achieve The Best Results

Here's a surefire method to guarantee you achieve the best... Read More

The Road to Achieving Training Success: What Holds the Key?

As a trainer, you will be able to see a... Read More

Elearning Is Dead - Long Live Blended Learning!

There is little doubt that eLearning has not achieved the... Read More

Simple Technique for Isolating Objections

To isolate any objection quickly you can use this effective... Read More

Selling More Effectively as a Trusted Sales Professional - Thirteen Tips

Do you want to sell more successfully using an honorable... Read More

The Multiplying Factor In Sales Success

Mark has an attitude! Mark had worked in an operational... Read More

The Changing Role of the Sales Consultant

"Leadership rests not only on outstanding ability. It also rests... Read More

Woo the Buyers Limbic Mind or All Your Sales Efforts are Wasted

If you've driven yourself crazy trying to figure out why... Read More

Change Takes Time

I am writing this at the Philadelphia Airport on my... Read More

Sales Discipline: Five Steps To Recover From A Lost Sale

Ever lost a sale? Of course you have, we all... Read More

The Art of Backend Selling

The art of backend sellingThe backend sale can be more... Read More

Top 5 Characteristics of Great Salespeople

I am a big believer that great salespeople generally realize... Read More

Cross-selling for Increased Sales, Profits, and Customer Satisfaction

Cross-selling - the art of selling for non-salespeopleCross-selling is the... Read More

Ideal Clients - Who are They and Where Do You Find Them?

Ideal clients are the ones who are perfect for you.... Read More