Mr. Sunshine Kills The Doubter
He sits on your shoulder. She whispers in your ear. Constantly.
“No one will buy from you.”
“No one is listening to you.”
A feeling of dread creeps into your system as you replay those words in your head over and over and over and over again.
It doesn’t help that your sales are down, not even your best customers are findable, and everyone around you seems to be impervious to this affliction.
“Maybe today is the day things change,” you think. But the day ends with yet another doughnut in the sales column, you left nothing but voicemail messages, got hung up on twice, and lost that bid you were really hoping you’d win.
The Doubter is omnipresent. They affect new sales reps and veterans alike. It’s like having an in law who comes to visit every once in a while, wreaks havoc, judges you, and shows no signs of leaving town.
This is the part of the blog that turns. This is the part where I tell you this feeling is temporary. It’s here that Mr. Sunshine offers encouragement and wisdom and say something like, “I’ve been in sales for 40 years and blah, blah, blah…”
Nope. That’s too predictable. Here’s what I would tell you instead:
- Your focus needs to be limited to sales activity;
- Your goal every day is to do your job;
- “Your job” is to make quality sales calls;
- Your mantra must be, “If I make quality sales calls and enough of them, success will follow;”
- Your philosophy must be, “I will control what I can control.”
Look, you’ve been down this road before. You know long stretches of time without any orders is part of the job. You know to counter The Doubter when the negative thoughts start with, “I’m doing my job. I am making quality sales calls. I’m controlling what I can control. Success will follow.”
When The Doubter begins to whisper, there is no need to listen…
…unless you’re not doing your job. If that’s the case, you’re screwed.
