I recently received the following question from a reader: “Do you have any advice for recovering from a bad month? I had been knocking the cover off the ball and have hit a bad streak and have lost all confidence.”
Sales motivation is all about knowing how you are going to respond in a variety of situations, including experiences that shake your confidence. If you were knocking the ball off the cover at one time, congratulations! You are a winner and that is what counts. It is obviously not question of “if” you know how to achieve great sales success. Take a moment to pat yourself on the back. The fact you have had a tough month is no reflection on your sales ability. Even Tiger Woods loses tournaments occasionally, but no one questions if he still knows how to play golf. He doesn’t hang up his golf bag, but instead, he does what winners do…refines his game, works hard on himself and commits to doing what it takes to win again.
First, the best way to get back in the game is to pick up the phone and start calling your favorite customers or make a sales call on them. When you reach out to your favorite customer, it is amazing how much they will help pick you up (and this is true regardless of whether they place an order at that time). Second, go for some easy wins. Don’t try to get a hole in one by landing a huge sale. Go for smaller sales so you can again taste success that inspires you to drive for bigger sales.
Third, get the garbage and negative voices out of your life. Unfortunately, there are probably people with whom you are working or people who you see away from work who are negative voices. Their outlook starts to rub off on you, as they complain about how bad things are. You don’t need this. Once you have limited your exposure to these people, fill that space with positive voices, including your own! You are what you think, and you think what you say, and you say what you feel.
Finally, at the end of each day reflect back on your biggest success for that day without comparing it to previous big successes. Congratulate yourself and use that success to help you determine your goal for the next day. At the end of each week and each month, repeat this process.
Congratulations on being in sales! The single biggest single determining factor in your sales is your sales motivation.
