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Recently, I was with a salesperson who I felt had always demonstrated a high level of sales motivation. Whenever I would engage this person on the phone, they were always upbeat and positive about their business and the prospects for the coming months. I never had a reason to doubt their level of sales motivation until the day I spent a couple of hours with the person and I got the shock of my life.

The salesperson wasn’t able to do anything outside of what they had specifically planned for that day, right down to the place where they intended to eat lunch (even though they were going to be eating alone). What shocked me about this rigid schedule was how they reacted to their cell phone ringing. First, they refused to answer it, even though twice when it rang, we were clearly in a position where they could have answered the phone. Second, the salesperson knew exactly who was calling and even why they were calling, but because it was not something they were specifically expecting that day, they didn’t think they could handle it.

Not only couldn’t this person handle taking the call, but they also proceeded to stew about it and how it was going to be such a pain to have to respond to them. I viewed those calls as simple quick interactions with customers, which ultimately means potential sales. But the salesperson was letting those incoming calls not only impact negatively their sales effectiveness for the day, but also hamper their sales motivation on a grander scale.

The reason I share this is simple. We have to expect deviations to come up — it’s what sales is all about! We need to remain positive about adjusting our schedule when needed and not letting such alterations negatively impact our sales motivation. Sales is all about seizing opportunities! They come in different shapes and manners to every salesperson out there. Be ready and willing to handle them, to capitalize on them and most of all to use them as a positive impact on your sales motivation.

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