We’ve all been there. Deep down inside you KNOW you need to get yourself out there and “make some sales”. Here are some great “Serendipity Selling Candidates”!
Yep- your conscience is nudging you, “Get your butt in gear! Your family needs you!” Your challenge?
You have another NEGATIVE voice inside you called “Fear Of Rejection” (F.O.R.) that holds you back! This little demon whispers, “If you walk into that business they will laugh at you! You will be REJECTED and feel like an idiot!” (Trust me, I’ve been there-felt this a thousand times!)
So you (and me!) A) postpone, B) invent excuses and/or C) engage in the insidious Displacement Activities! So the days/weeks/months/ years drift by. So sad because this wasted “Business Development Time” represents an enormous “Opportunity Cost”.
So how can you dump the F.O.R. bugaboo? Learn from my mother! Mom always told me…
It costs nothing to ask!
Seriously! Mom was right! What is the very WORST your business prospect can say? “No?” Great! Throw it off and move on! Remember that they are not rejecting you personally! Instead remember that…
The two biggest emotions in business are: “Apathy” and “Inertia”. So when you get blown off, ignored or even rejected don’t get “paranoid”! Just realize that “selling in business is a process, not an event“! (Remember that an “event” happens only one time which is how often too many of us do any selling!) So dump your F.O.R. when you…
1. Laugh! Is your family going to STARVE if you don’t sell a job today? No? Then RELAX and walk in with a smiling sense of humor! HERE is how to lighten up!
2. Practice your “elevator speech”. The first 20 to 30 seconds are the scary F.O.R. part. (After that it is just a “conversation” and you are good at that!) So get your opening words down pat by practicing on your spouse.
3. Recognize it is just a “process”. Every time you do get “rejected” just think, “Hey! I’m one sales call closer to actually getting an account!” I call it “The Law of Large Numbers” and for it to work you need to make at least 20 sales calls per week! HERE is how to sell commercial carpet cleaning accounts.
4. Always “make your visit count”. Get the manager’s contact info for a followup note or even just leave your business card. And check out my tip HERE for a great “Get Something” request!
5. “The hardest door to make it through is your own”! So just “git ‘er done”! (On a consistent weekly basis!)
Steve