How to Sell in Tough Times
Do I have any specific thoughts about selling when times are
tough? Well, if you are to achieve high levels of success in
selling, you must be able to get positive results even while
circumstances are negative. In just about every area of selling
the field will over populate in boom times and thin out in tough
times.
The Real Estate industry is a classic example of this. Yet some
people stay in the industry year after year, regardless of
'booms'.
The consistently high performer will get results no matter what
the circumstances. I find it's down to attitude. Some people
look for circumstances in a victimized kind of way, to justify
their poor results. They celebrate their good days, but in the
down times, they have their 'safety net' of excuses ready. What
they are doing, is giving negative thinking a lot of power
simply by spending precious energy and time dreaming up and
focusing on their 'reasons why it won't or didn't work' etc.
Any time you offer your subconscious a choice between two goals,
one negative and one positive, you risk it taking on the
negative one. Which one do you give the most focus to?
The exceptional achiever deliberately ignores talk about
recessions, wars, the miserable state of affairs in the world or
in their own lives, doom and gloom and any other subjects that
he or she feels detract from their ultimate success. These
individuals steer clear of the melodramas of life and
concentrate their efforts instead, on matters far more worthy of
their precious time and energy. Their 'batting average' matters
more and it's here where their focus lies.
I believe the biggest obstacle to successful selling occurs in
your own mind. This brings us back to our perception of a
refusal to buy being a personal 'rejection'. Quite simply, in
selling, if you constantly feel rejected you cannot achieve
exceptional results.
It is also my belief that the number one reason for mediocrity
in selling, is that three letter word - EGO! A falsely inflated
ego is a vulnerable, fragile thing. If you are the type of
person who takes "No" as a personal affront to your very worth,
selling will be an exquisitely painful process to you and most
people, sensitive or not, will avoid pain at all costs. You will
become a master avoider and procrastinator.
If you cannot confront and take steps to resolve the emotional
issues that keep you prisoner and sabotage your success, then no
amount of sales training will change your results for the
better. Many people have wonderful people skills and are natural
persuaders, but as long as they continue to equate their self
worth with whether or not everybody wants to buy their products,
they will set themselves up for a fall.
When someone does not accept an offer I make them, I know it has
nothing to do with me as a person. I therefore don't become
emotional about it.