Menu
I suspect every salesperson has had that feeling.
It is one of the greatest feelings ever; when selling just seems…well…easy.
It’s like you’re flying with the wind at your back. It’s almost effortless. Everything is working right; it’s all good and you can do no wrong.
There are other times, however, when it feels like the wind is straight up in your face. And it’s not some gentle breeze. It’s that gale force, umbrella-busting kind of wind; the kind that makes every step seem like the last 100 yards of the 26th mile of a marathon.
I have that experience sometimes when I play golf. Standing on the tee box with a brisk breeze behind you can raise your confidence level 20 points. You just have to get the ball up in the air and let it ride. But put a stiff breeze in your face and you start to press. You know the wind will impact ball flight and distance, but it’s easy to let the wind get in your head. It can affect your attitude towards the shot. Which can be costly. Being able to use a golf launch monitor with pretty accurate recordings can help you to know just how costly this is.
I’m sure every salesperson has had that feeling as well. The one when selling just seems…well…freaking hard. People don’t return calls. Deals get delayed or cancelled. Customer complaints are out of control. Critical inventory is out-of-stock. And the company still hasn’t delivered on that new product that was due out three months ago.
Wind in your face. And you start feeling the need to swing harder.
Yes, selling into a headwind can be a serious challenge, but there are things you can do when the going is tough.
Here are three time-tested ideas for selling into a headwind:
1. First, get organized.
It may sound trite. Cliché, maybe. But for most people mental stress diminishes in direct proportion to the ability to get one’s arms around the problem. And, frankly, many times the problem is hard to see because of the chaos in your field of vision. It is time to remove distractions.
Don’t get the wrong impression. You can definitely spend all your time organizing or planning and never get around to execution. That’s a trap of another sort and needs to be avoided at all costs. It is similar to how you need to do some organization in your warehouse or factory for better management. First, the inventory needs to be sorted and arranged, it might also require you to use different equipment such as a rolling platform or forklift to move the stuff around. Later, you should check the inventory list to store the products in order, and take them away for sale. Whatever work you do, the organization is the most crucial aspect. What I want you to do is de-clutter, remove the meaningless, clean up the mess, and rid yourself of the many distractions that build up over time. Your work would be a lot easier that way.
Clean up your desk. Clean out your car. Crush your email inbox. Dump any reading material that doesn’t rise to the level of critical. Dispense with any minor issues (reports, etc.) that can be completed in short order.
The idea is to remove anything that creates a distraction and may prevent you from seeing the most important job at hand. Mentally, this one simple process – typically a few hours at most – will do wonders for your state-of-mind.
2. Second, focus on the right activities.
Gaining control of your work is as simple as getting organized and understanding priorities. The second step in this process, then, is to bring your business priorities into focus.
Most salespeople (and business people in general) tend to focus on results rather than activities and that is a mistake. Every salesperson should have a clear understanding of what activities are critical in terms of producing the desired results.
Clearly, specific revenue and/or margin objectives are always the results needed. Specific salespeople might need to attain new accounts, sales in specific product lines, sales in specific geographic areas, and so on. But what activities will produce those results?
– Conversations
– Dials
– Cold calls
– Lead follow-up
– Test drives
– Beta tests
– Proposals
– Demonstrations
Every salesperson should know what it takes to get to her primary revenue number(s) – the number of calls, the number of presentations, the number of proposals, etc.
Yes, this is the quantitative side of selling. And, yes, effectiveness in every aspect of selling is vitally important. However, sales is simply math; it is easy to work backwards from your target objectives to gain a clear understanding of exactly what must be done in specific areas of activity that will allow you to reach your objectives.
If you’re selling into a strong headwind, it is doubly important to focus on successfully executing those critical sales activities.
3. Finally, set clearly defined short-term goals.
Nothing builds confidence quicker than success.
Nothing.
So, let’s manufacture some success!
When you begin working on those critical activities in Step 2, give yourself a clear finish line to run to. Immediately create short-term objectives for each of those activities that are critical to your desired sales results.
Everything you do for the next few days, or the next few weeks, is designed to create success in attaining the goals that you set. The reality is that success execution in those key activities will ultimately lead to success in your sales results, but just as more important, success in achieving your short-term activity goals will create enormous confidence, as Mark Divine explains in his fantastic book The Way of the Seal: Think Like an Elite Warrior to Lead and Succeed:
Each time you set a goal- whether it is big or long-term as in your overall mission or small and shorter-term as in the missions to hit your targets along the way to your primary objective-you ignite a spiral of success that feeds your mental toughness. You’re giving yourself something to strive for (a “why”), something to visualize and focus on for positive momentum.
Focusing on small steps keeps you moving in the right direction and prevents you from meandering around waiting for something to happen. As you begin to achieve your short-term objectives, you will begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
This 1-2-3 approach is the same methodology that successful athletes typically use when they find themselves in a slump:
1. Remove distractions
2. Focus on the basics
3. Set clear short-term objectives for specific improvements
Now, you can take the same approach to selling in a headwind.
—————-
Reference: Divine, Mark. “The Way of the SEAL: Think Like an Elite Warrior to Lead and Succeed.” Reader’s Digest, Kindle Edition (104).
Kelly Riggs is a business performance coach and founder of the Business LockerRoom. A former national Salesperson of the Year and serial entrepreneur, Kelly is a recognized thought leader in the areas of sales, management leadership, and strategic planning. He serves clients ranging from small, privately held companies to Fortune 500 firms. Kelly has written two books: “1-on-1 Management™: What Every Great Manager Knows That You Don’t” and “Quit Whining and Start SELLING! A Step-by-Step Guide to a Hall of Fame Career in Sales.”
