Complacency and Fear are Sales Busters

Prospecting is the engine that propels anyone in sales. Without consistently initiating contact with prospective customers to talk with, your sales will plummet and everybody loses. Studies confirm that 80% of all salespeople fail in their first year because of the fears associated with prospecting. 40% of veteran producers with more than five years -- experience severe sales slumps due to fears associated with prospecting.

Fears are productivity busters that drain our energies and makes sales prospecting emotionally difficult. Fears most commonly recognized in the sales world are fear of rejection, fear of loss, fear using the telephone, fear of not be prepared, group selling and a host of others. All of which jeopardize existing relationships with customers and stand in the way of acquiring new customers -- resulting in loss revenue for companies and loss income for salespeople.

Eliminating those fears is something that is easy to overcome. But sales managers and trainers who tell sales rookies and seasoned professionals to do the things you fear most and it will go away -- haven't a clue of what harm is being done. The person who is motivated, has sales goals and is reluctant to cold calls, self-promotion, selling to groups or any other forms of call reluctant is legitimately fearful. Forcing that person to make cold calls on the telephone is only imbedding the fear deeper. It is like pounding a nail into a person's leg and at the same time telling them to think positive and it won't hurt.

Fears are feeling establish when we allow ourselves to, mindlessly, recite self-limiting thoughts. To overcome distressful gut wrenching feelings we must replace fear producing self-talk with non-fear-producing statements.

Sales, is a stressful business causing negative mind chatter in a person to conjure up all kinds of unpleasant thoughts. When prospecting, it is not at all uncommon for the salesperson to check out momentarily by going into a state of self-hypnosis reciting counterproductive, contorted and self-defeating talk. When that occurs, you need to replace it with self-enhancing self-talk, which will result in constructive emotional responses.

When complacency and stress sets in -- beware. Check what is going on with your self-talk. It just may be that you are slowly being contaminated. When you are having feelings of distress and despair over any form of prospecting, listen carefully to yourself. Are you hearing highly charge and emotional words like -- couldn't, terrible, awful, can't, hate -- that automatically invoke self-talk statements that are inhibiting your career.

Here is a simplified but useful way of reversing self-diminishing self-talk:

1. Close you eyes and take three deep breaths.

2. While you are exhaling, slow your self-talk down to the point that you are reciting, your words, in slow motion. Listen for your self-defeating talk.

3. Disconnect your self-defeating talk with goal-supporting non-fear producing statements.

4. Continue the reinforcement by visualizing a positive outcome along with your non-fear producing statements.

Your focus in this simplified exercise is to realign your emotional energy. Fear takes on many different forms and drains us of energy, while robbing us of many valuable hours we could be using more productively for prospecting and growing our business.

Don L. Price ? Coaching Minds To Succeed, Sales/Marketing & High Performance Success Coach, International Speaker, Consultant and Author of Secrets of Personal Marketing Power-Strategies for Achieving Greater Personal & Business Success -- http://www.donlprice.com

http://www.donlprice.com/files/htisubmit.htm

---

Selling ? Remember These Ten Rules and Succeed

There are thousands of books and seminars on how to... Read More

The Email Blow-Off

This week's article is my response to a question by... Read More

What is a Pitch?

I've been training in countries outside the U.S. recently, and... Read More

Three Ways to Increase Mortgage Applications

If you are in the mortgage business, the very first... Read More

An Introduction to Mannequins

Just about every clothing store uses mannequins. There are many... Read More

YOUR Future Profits -- Protect Source With CARE

At 21 years, just out of Business College, I went... Read More

How to Reach Purchasing Agents of Big Corporations

Now business owners and sales professionals can develop a Faster... Read More

Web Promotion: 10 Amazing Web Promotion Ways To Jump Start Your Sales

Hello, do you have a website and sell something on... Read More

Leave a Better Voice Mail Message

Yesterday I received a call from a financial planner named... Read More

Unique Selling Propositions

If you have competitors, then you should have at least... Read More

Aamazing Tips To Increase Your Sales

1. When you make your first sale, follow-up with the... Read More

Count Down To An Advert

There are hundreds of books available to teach you how... Read More

Follow the Long Yellow Copy: Do Long Scrolling Sales Letters Work?

Have you ever sat through a movie and got to... Read More

Interactive Sales Letter Skyrockets Conversions with 2 Simple Questions

There are many tactics and techniques that go into converting... Read More

Six Simple Steps for Getting More Applications

When I first started out as a loan officer, one... Read More

Your Proposal Was Rejected... But Why?

When a request for proposal (RFP) comes in, you get... Read More

Persuading Learners to Buy: 7 Groups

There are seven major reasons why adults continue their pursuit... Read More

5 Ideas for Writing Effective Sales Letters

Sales letters, sent via e-mail or snail mail, are an... Read More

A Stupid Question, but it has to be asked

This is a stupid question but it has to be... Read More

10 Important Things To Tell Your Prospects

Hello everyone, hope your day is going well! I know... Read More

Selling -abilities : Part 2

In the last article... Read More

Take the Contract with You

I learned something very interesting this week. Thankfully, what I... Read More

Generating Sales Leads

Any company that relies on selling a product or service... Read More

How A Simple Greeting Or Post Card Can Turn Into Cash ? Guaranteed

I've been using a technique that has helped me to... Read More

Losing the Big-One: Salvaging Lost Accounts

After careful consideration, we have chosen our vendor, and it's... Read More

Health Insurance Lead and Health Insurance Leads

Health insurance lead generation systems provide a stead stream of... Read More

10 Mistakes That Reduce Profitability

In my professional experience as a sales and marketing coach/consultant,... Read More

Get The Help You Need With Fund Raising Ideas

There are many fund raising ideas on the market today... Read More

How to ASK for Business -- WITHOUT appearing Pushy --

GIVING Vs "SELLING"Never lose sight of the importance of providing... Read More

Telephone Techniques

TELEPHONE TECHNIQUESSelling face to face is different from selling on... Read More

10 Incredible Ways To Sell Your Products Now

1. Make your reader visualize they have already bought your... Read More

How Many Ways Do You Have To Justify Your Price?

If you were selling a mansion, and you were selling... Read More

Book Yourself Solid

THE 7 KEYS TO GETTING MORE CLIENTS THAN YOU CAN... Read More