Prospecting right now is selfish. No one is buying what I’m selling. People are not answering the phone. They’re not even at the office!
Sound familiar? Perhaps it’s something you have said to yourself or to your manager in a meeting.
What if the opposite was true? That’s right. What if someone is sitting in their home right now looking for the product or services that you provide? The fact of the matter is, there are companies that are buying right now. There are people looking for what you do/sell/etc.
The issue at hand is not whether there are companies buying right now or not. The issue, in my opinion, is your belief in what you sell. Do you believe in what you do? Do you believe in the product or service you sell? If not, then perhaps it’s time you find a different career.
Conversely, if you do, then it’s time to stop listening to the voice in your head that says no one wants to talk to you and start telling yourself that you are doing your prospects a disservice by NOT calling them. According to the National Science Foundation, an average person has about 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. Of those, 80 percent are negative. Eighty percent! That’s an overwhelming number. So, what’s the good news? Once you start to pay attention to your thoughts and how they are shaping your reality, you can change them and take away their negative power.
Make a conscience effort to think positively and start to act. Get your outreaches done every day. If someone says no to you, move on. Get going onto the next company or person who could benefit from a conversation. Every no is getting you closer to a yes! We at LIFT firmly believe that the more behaviors you do, the better your technique will be. The better your technique, the more wins you will have, which will obviously continue to improve your attitude.
David Sandler used to say, “No one stands in line to make a cold call. “He was right. There are unicorns out there who live for them. They love to call strangers all day and getting told no just fuels them to call more strangers. If you are not one of those unicorns, that’s OK. What I truly love about sales is it doesn’t matter what your natural ability is or if you’ve ever sold anything before. Anyone can learn to be a successful salesperson. Anyone.
The clients we work with have the mindset that everyone within their organization is in sales. Everyone. Think about that for a minute. How can everyone be in sales? It’s quite simple — lead your organization by demonstrating that everyone can start a conversation. Asking the question, “Would you benefit from having a conversation with us?” is simple. If they say no, that’s totally OK. If you don’t ask the question, the answer is always no.
We focus a fair amount of time on helping people self-discover what we see so clearly. Everyone is talented in their own way. Each talent can lend to the success of an organization. Every type of person can be a successful salesperson.
My hope in writing this is that you’ll understand that no matter what you are facing right now in this pandemic, you can contribute to the success of your company. If it means for a little while you embrace talking to your connections about how you can help them or how they can help you, do it. Taking action is going to put you in a better mindset and position to be successful after this pandemic is history.
Stephanie Larson is director of operations for Lift Consulting LLC.
