Build Confidence and Advance your Sales Career

Posted: Dec 29, 2010 |Comments: 0 |

    Imagine your surprise when you walk into the client's office and the client you've worked with for the last three years tells you that he is going to move his business to your competitor.  Your reaction at that moment is one of shock, disappointment, anxiety, and even anger. 

    You quickly run through all of the conversations you had with the client over the last few years.  You think to yourself, "Where did I go wrong?"  "What could I have done better?"  You can't help it, your hands are shaking.  You know that the loss will be analyzed by the leaders of the organization and you are most likely going to have to answer difficult questions as to why this client is leaving. 

     During the drive home you downward spiral into a deep depression as you review every sales call you have been on for the last two months.  "Where else am I failing?" you ask yourself.  "Am I really cut out for this?"  "I am just not a great problem solver."  "Every one of my clients is probably going to leave me."  "When it comes to crunch time, even at my best, I can't deliver."  Down the spiral tube your thoughts go.

     The sales vocation, the external sales profession in particular, is a lonely job.  In office employees can meet at the water cooler to share common worries and solve problems, not so with the external sales executive.  The boss is located many states away so there is no chance of walking into the bosses office when you are down.  Similarly, your co-workers are located many states away.  Chances are high that you face rejection many times a day as you attempt to network and meet with prospects.  The deal is, you ARE your only and own best friend, coach, and leader.  The goal is to help you access your best self and internal coach so that you can stay even-tempered, level-headed, and calm, especially after making mistakes or experience set-backs.

     In order to access your best friend you need to pay attention to your thoughts.  How critical is it to be insuring you have positive self talk?  In a study regarding optimistic thinking, it was found that positive thinkers outsell the normal population by 31% and outsell negative thinkers professionals by 57%. 

     Self talk is the internal monolog used to interpret the things that happen within a day.  The self talk outlines an interpretation that not only explains the events but projects the potential future.  The self talk also helps formulate beliefs.  Capturing our thoughts therefore can help us formulate productive, helpful beliefs that will drive success.

     Capturing thoughts can seem as difficult as trapping water in a colander.   The water flows in and out of your consciousness quickly.  You really have to concentrate and be disciplined about trapping the thoughts during times of anxiety if you are to identify thoughts that will limit your results and bring you down.   The goal is to turn your monolog into thoughts, beliefs, and imagination to support self confidence and create positive outcomes so that you can be at the top of your game. 

     The thoughts that will create the most confidence are those that are those that interpret losses or setbacks as temporary, rarely occurring, and a result of something that is out of your control.  Confidence also comes from interpreting positive events as those that occur all the time, is just a universal part of life, and a result of your hard work.  Your job as your own coach is to monitor your internal dialog, especially during setbacks, so that you can convert negative harmful thoughts to positive thoughts.

      It is hard work to monitor and change thinking habits and yet the payoffs are great.  As stated earlier, those that are positive sell more, significantly more than those that are not positive and constructive.  The payoff of obtaining great results is motivating enough to take on the arduous task of monitoring your thoughts.  The other benefits include having more fun working, higher self confidence, ability to negotiate more creatively, and gaining favor at work.  Employers favor employees that are optimistic even when they think they are not performing well or just made a mistake.

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