Good Morning!
You might fight me on this one, but I’ve come to believe one of the biggest lies sales people tell themselves is this: “I just don’t have any time to sell.” My argument is this, you do have time. You’re just choosing to use it differently. Something tells me that if you really and truly needed sales volume, you would miraculously find the time.
But there’s something else at play here, too. Perhaps you are suffering from Sales FOMO.
For the uninitiated (read: if you’ve over 35 or so), FOMO is an acronym for “Fear Of Missing Out”. It’s the feeling that comes over you when you know there’s an event going on somewhere that you are not a part of. We all know that feeling and now you have an acronym to describe it.
You’re welcome.
Salespeople have a special kind of FOMO. This occurs when they talk themselves out of prospecting to new accounts because they believe their time is better spent with existing clients. Let’s say it’s 8:30 AM and they’ve started some new business activity. But as they reach for the phone, and email comes in requesting a price. Maybe they see that as a shiny object or perhaps getting right back to someone is their idea of customer service, but they are instantly sidetracked. Then, something else comes up. And then something else. And just like that, the salesperson has found a way to avoid new business activity.
Why not use voicemail to your advantage?
Change the outgoing message each day. Give the caller the information he or she needs and, in doing so, ease your Sales FOMO. For example…
“Hi, this is Bill Farquharson. Today is Monday, November 19.
I will be unavailable until 9:30 AM, at which time I will return your call.
If you need help immediately, hit ‘0’ and ask for Customer Service.”
There is very little in life that can’t wait until 9:30 AM. Now, depending on what time you start, you’ve just given yourself 60 to 90 minutes to make some sales calls.
There. That takes care of THAT excuse! What else ya got?
