10 Ways to Overcome the Fear of Selling

The number of people who are out there offering solutions via email to help you sell without ever having to pick up a phone or face rejection is driving me nuts.

The only thing these people are doing is fleecing scared salespeople. They’re taking their money by selling them a dream that goes “poof”shortly after the money is paid.

Sales is without a doubt a great profession. You’ve heard me say this before and I’ll keep saying it because I’m passionate about it. You might be one of those people who faces fear in one form or another when it comes to sales.

It’s time you take a deep breath and realize you’re not alone. Everyone at one time or another has experienced fear from selling. I know I did early on in my career. You’d be shocked at the number of times I would hesitate to pick up the phone or knock on a door or do anything that would move a sale forward.

My reason was simple — I was scared.

I’m thankful I had sales managers and others who helped me through the valleys. If I had not had those around me who picked me up, I wouldn’t be writing this post today, as I would have moved into a different profession. I’m glad I made it, and I hope you’re glad I did too.

Most of all I’m glad I can now help you deal with the challenge of fear when it comes to sales.

Below is my list of the 10 things you can do starting right now to overcome your fear of selling. (Go ahead and do the right thing. Forward this to someone else, and I promise they’ll be glad you did!)

1. Stop selling and start building relationships.

You’ll never sell anything unless you’re willing to get to know the person you’re selling to. This applies just as much to the person with the short sales cycle as to the person selling the long, 5-year contract. It’s all about relationships.

2. Realize what you’re doing is helping to solve problems other people have.

People don’t buy just for the fun of it. They buy because they have a problem to solve or something to gain. To me that’s neat because I get to spend my day helping others.

3. Only associate with other positive people.

When we spend our time hanging around those who say it can’t be done, those who are negative on life, or those who want to knock us down to their level, we’ll never win. Winners associate with winners. It’s a pretty simple concept yet rarely fully applied.

4. Value each day and each person you meet as another person you have the privilege to positively impact.

I count it as one of the greatest things I get to do each day and that is to meet new people. Doing so not only allows me to impact them, but also give me an opportunity to learn. Each day I’m going to school by spending time with others.

5. Believe 110% what you sell is going to help others.

Too many people get hung up on what they sell and they claim they can’t sell because of what they sell. I say that’s nonsense.  I say even more important than what you sell and even how you sell is why you sell. You sell to help others. What you sell is merely the means you use to help them.

6. Accept the fact not everybody will accept you, whether it be in person, email, phone call or however you reach them.

When somebody rejects your prospecting call, accept it as only a moment of time and move on. I’d much rather have a fast rejection than a slow one.  The last thing I want to do is have multiple calls with you and spend inordinate amounts of time with you all because you didn’t want to tell me “no” early on.

7. Think long-term and don’t get hung up on what did or did not happen today.

Look at successful people. They too have days that don’t go well; they even have weeks and months that don’t go well, but it doesn’t stop them. View each day as one more step. Some days it might be a small step, some a big step and other days even a step back. Just remember to keep focused on your long-term goal and keep moving.

8. Set goals you know you can achieve.

Ignore the goals the superstars set. It’s not your job to achieve their goals, focus on your goals.  Make your goals ones that will stretch you, but you know with effort you can make. Momentum creates momentum and when we’re feeling good about our goals, it’s amazing how much better we feel.

9. Never sell on price.

You might think selling a low price is easy, but that’s not doing you, your company, or the customer any good. When people buy on price, they fail to see the value and they wind up never realizing what the product can do to help them.

Customers you attract with a low price will leave you the second somebody else comes along with a lower price. I have an expression I like to use: “You can’t turn a Wal-Mart shopper into a Nordstrom customer.” Focus on who your ideal customer is and don’t waver from it.

10. Never forget the most valuable asset you have is yourself and your time.

Nobody can motivate you — only you can motivate yourself. When we view ourselves as being on a mission to succeed, it is amazing what can happen. It comes down to one very simple thing — when we change our outlook on life, we will change our output from life.

Make a wise step and be sure to sign up for the free webinar I am doing May 12 on Overcoming the Fear of Prospecting.  Sign up today at this link.