How do you overcome a sales slump? We have all been there.
I talk about this more in my book, A Mind for Sales, and right now I am offering a special deal on the A Mind for Sales Masterclass through The Sales Hunter University.
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Now, let’s talk about how to overcome a sales slump. First of all, don’t kid yourself – even top performers have sales slumps. The key is how quickly can you get out of the sales slump?
Video – How to Get Out of a Sales Slump
1. Long-Game
Focus on the long game. There may be days, weeks or even months that things are down. Things just may not be happening for you but focus on the long game.
Everything that you do is focused on creating opportunities down the road.
When you focus your mindset on the long game, you will quickly come out of your short game problems.
2. Check Your Goals
What do I mean by checking the goals you have? At times, we are in a sales slump because the goals we have just are not quite there.
If I am in a sales slump, I check my goals and set some very easy ones that I can overcome and accomplish quickly.
There is something magical about doing this because when you accomplish a goal, you really motivate yourself and can quickly wind up being back on top.
Checking your goals is important because many times, we are in a sales slump because we lost our focus as to what our goals are.
Having trouble setting and achieving smart goals? Check out these 10 tips.
3. Existing Customers
Existing customers do two magical things for us when we are in a sales slump:
- They convince us, tell us and confirm for us the wonderful work that we do, because there are existing customers.
- Existing customers can also be a source of additional business.
I always say to go back to your existing customers when you are in a sales slump. Let them rejuvenate you because they will tell you how fantastic you are and, many times, there is new business.
Existing customers will give you direct new business, or they will refer you to new business.
4. Tighten Prospect List
What do I mean by a tightened prospect list?
Too many times, we get in a sales slump because we are just all over the place. Or, we say, “Wow, there are no prospects available. I do not have anyone to prospect.”
It is always one of the two. Tighten your prospect list around your ICP, or your Ideal Customer Profile.
Once you are focused on a few key prospects that you know you can help, it is amazing how much more enthused you will get because you know you can make a difference with them.
Need a confidence boost on your telephone prospecting strategies? Here are my latest 10 strategies.
5. Commitment to Others
When we get in a sales slump, we often become very self-centered. We become focused on what we can do for ourselves.
I hear this all the time from salespeople who call me, whining about how it is because they are so committed. In reality, they are so focused on themselves.
You have to make a commitment to others to help them. When you make a commitment to others, you are holding yourself to a higher standard.
You are being accountable to yourself and that is absolutely key.
6. Commitment to Yourself
An example of being committed to yourself is promising that every morning, you are going to exercise between 6:30 and 7:00, and actually following through on it.
Commitment to yourself means you are putting meetings with yourself on your calendar and you are sticking with them.
Right now, on my calendar, it says “Wednesday Sales Tip videos.” That is the activity I have committed to myself to do during this time block. It is a commitment to myself.
The more we make and honor commitments to ourselves, the easier it will be for us to be committed to other people and hold ourselves to that level of standard.
7. Create a Success List
What is a success list? Take a piece of paper and write down everything that has gone right and everything you have been able to make happen over the last several weeks, months, years, etc.
As you go through that list, I assume you will be able to think, “Wow, I have really been able to accomplish a lot.”
It is amazing how when you take the time to focus on your success, you are much more successful than you realize.
Past success will replicate itself. It will.
Now, I am not saying past performance drives what is going to happen in the future. However, I look at my success list and go, “Wait a minute – if I was able to do that back then, why can’t I do this now?”
8. Relax / Don’t Panic
When people begin chasing the ‘shiny object,’ they often find themselves in a sales slump.
Too many salespeople start going out of their way on things that just do not make sense.
Hold on, people. Calm down, slow down, relax and breathe.
When you are calm, it is amazing how much more focused you are; you are able to step back from the trees and see the entire forest.
You will make better decisions when you are calm and relaxed. Do not panic because you make stupid decisions in a panic state.
9. Review Your Process
Review your sales process and compare with other people. Study, read books, get out there and learn from other people.
What are some tweaks and changes you can make? Ask yourself:
- What are some things I want to do to change my process?
- What can I do to make better use of my time?
- How can I make better time of my prospecting calls?
When people tell me they are in a sales slump, I tell them to review their process and specifically ask them how much time they really spend prospecting. That is always the shortcoming.
In fact, it’s why I wrote the book, High-Profit Prospecting.
You cannot close what you do not prospect, so you must spend time prospecting.
Review your process and you will see where the gaps are.
Let’s simplify your sales process together in this blog post.
10. Keep Things Simple
Do not overcomplicate things.
Often times, salespeople get in a slump and turn to new apps, tools or SAAS that looked to have worked for other people. Do not overcomplicate it!
Keeping things simple allows you to understand things better in your own mind.
At the end of the day, your sales slump is not going to be corrected because of a new CRM system. Your sales slump is going to be corrected because of your mindset.
These are just 10 of my tips to overcome a sales slump, so hit subscribe to my YouTube channel, check out The Sales Hunter University for my sales mindset masterclass and make sure you read my book, A Mind for Sales.
Great selling.
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Copyright 2021, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.
