One very good sales representative in an outbound telesales center told me his single, biggest strength was that he was resilient. A couple of days later he sent me the following:
From the American Heritage Dictionary of the English language: re*sil*ience [ri-zil-yuh ns, -zil-ee-uh ns]
The power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity.
"After making calls all day, this is the way that I feel," he said. "Bent, compressed and stretched. But I have developed the attitude and ability to recover quickly. I have to become enthusiastic again right after a series of bad calls or the next customer will hear it in my voice and I won't have a chance with them."
One of the best, outside, business-to-business sales representatives I ever worked with at BellSouth Mobility was also one of the most fearless cold-callers of her time. She made more cold calls than anyone else to construction companies and sold more cellular phones than anyone else. At our year-end sales conference, she won almost every category of sales award given. She had made quite a name for herself and it appeared that she had a very bright future with our company. However in late January she walked into my office and resigned.
"I just can't do it anymore," she said. "Ninety percent of the people I call tell me they have no interest. They're not mean and most aren't rude, but they still reject me and my product. I can't deal with being rejected all day long. It makes me feel bad and I'm sure people can sense it when I make that very next call."
Try as I might, I couldn't talk her out of her decision. Although it was not obvious considering her performance, she lacked resiliency. When I asked her what she was going to do, she said she was going back to school to become a nurse.
The best salespeople tell us that it takes more than determination and persistence to be successful. It takes a resilient mind-set. There are times when every sales representative will be bent, compressed and stretched. The ones who have learned to recover quickly have a huge advantage over all others. So, how do the best salespeople develop a resilient mind-set?
- Accept that some don't need or want a minivan. Accept that your product or service may not satisfy the needs or solve the problems of every potential customer. Understand your product and its value as well as the needs it will satisfy and the problems it will solve.
- Expect to be rejected. However, don't allow yourself to take that rejection personally if the customer decides that your product will not satisfy their needs. Eleanor Roosevelt said, "No one can make you feel inferior without your permission."
- Overcome the fear of failure. Many people become so afraid of failure that they become paralyzed and do nothing. Avoid paralysis by developing a detailed plan with the steps required to achieve each of your goals. Then start with the first step and move to the next one.
- Cultivate an optimistic attitude. Think of selling like you would an Easter egg hunt. Turn kids loose in a field to hunt for Easter eggs, and all of them are filled with excitement. If they don't find an egg under one bush they run off to look under another. They are driven forward by the excitement of finding an Easter egg, not disappointed each time they don't.
- Execute. So, you know your targeted prospects; you're not taking rejection personally; you're facing the fear of rejection and you are going to remain "Easter egg" optimistic. Now it all comes down to action! The best tell us that execution is the most important of all sales actions.
Now get out there and get bent, compressed, stretched, bounce back and find those Easter eggs!
