Scare Yourself Successful
Scare Yourself Successful
I've worked with tens of thousands of salespeople and a fairly high percentage of them don't have or won't admit to any fear. A significant percentage of salespeople have so much fear and it is so transparent that it causes them to be terribly ineffective. You can hear it in their voices, see it in their eyes, and watch it in their trembling hands. They're petrified every time they get in front of a prospect!
Somewhere in between fearless and afraid there is a happy medium and I'd like to share some of my thoughts on fear so that you can use fear to improve your effectiveness:
* instead of asking yourself, "what if I screw up?", ask yourself, "what could I screw up and what should I do to make sure that doesn't happen?"
* instead of asking yourself "what if they don't like me?", ask yourself, "what might they not like about me and what can I do to compensate for that?"
* instead of asking yourself, "what if I can't answer their questions?", ask yourself, "what questions could come up that I need to be better prepared to answer?"
* instead of asking yourself, "what if I fail?", ask yourself, "what must I do on this call to put myself in the best possible scenario to succeed?"
* instead of asking yourself, "what if they give me a really hard time?", ask yourself, "what will I do if they give me a really hard time?"
* instead of asking yourself, "what if they prefer the competition to me?", ask yourself, "assuming they prefer the competition, what can I do to reposition us and change their perception?"
Used properly, fear allows you to be more prepared, better equipped and actually more confident than if your fear didn't cause you to completely rehearse your next call.
One of my one-liners that I've been sharing with salespeople for more than twenty years is this: Be eternally optimistic about your outcomes, but pessimistic about what will happen along the way. In other words, know in your heart that you will succeed in the end, but be prepared for everything that can and will go wrong along the way!
Scare Yourself Successful - To learn more about this author, visit Dave Kurlan's Website.
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Would you be surprised to learn that, after 35 years, I experience fear prior to sales calls, presentations, training and speaking engagements? Yeah, I'd be surprised to read that too - except I really do. It's not debilitating, it doesn't cause stress or anxiety, it doesn't prevent me from doing what I need to do and I don't attempt to overcome it. Why? Because after 35 years, it's the fear that makes me excel. It's the fear that makes my speaking engagements so memorable. It's the fear that makes my training programs so effective. It's the fear that helps me succeed on my sales calls.
I've worked with tens of thousands of salespeople and a fairly high percentage of them don't have or won't admit to any fear. A significant percentage of salespeople have so much fear and it is so transparent that it causes them to be terribly ineffective. You can hear it in their voices, see it in their eyes, and watch it in their trembling hands. They're petrified every time they get in front of a prospect!
Somewhere in between fearless and afraid there is a happy medium and I'd like to share some of my thoughts on fear so that you can use fear to improve your effectiveness:
* instead of asking yourself, "what if I screw up?", ask yourself, "what could I screw up and what should I do to make sure that doesn't happen?"
* instead of asking yourself "what if they don't like me?", ask yourself, "what might they not like about me and what can I do to compensate for that?"
* instead of asking yourself, "what if I can't answer their questions?", ask yourself, "what questions could come up that I need to be better prepared to answer?"
* instead of asking yourself, "what if I fail?", ask yourself, "what must I do on this call to put myself in the best possible scenario to succeed?"
* instead of asking yourself, "what if they give me a really hard time?", ask yourself, "what will I do if they give me a really hard time?"
* instead of asking yourself, "what if they prefer the competition to me?", ask yourself, "assuming they prefer the competition, what can I do to reposition us and change their perception?"
Used properly, fear allows you to be more prepared, better equipped and actually more confident than if your fear didn't cause you to completely rehearse your next call.
One of my one-liners that I've been sharing with salespeople for more than twenty years is this: Be eternally optimistic about your outcomes, but pessimistic about what will happen along the way. In other words, know in your heart that you will succeed in the end, but be prepared for everything that can and will go wrong along the way!
Scare Yourself Successful - To learn more about this author, visit Dave Kurlan's Website.
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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