As we all now know, protecting our mental space is PARAMOUNT! It is the single best thing we can do for ourselves, whether we are “sales professionals” or anything else. Becoming discouraged can become dangerous and even fatal to our most dearly-held dreams.
DO NOT FALL INTO THE DEADLY TRAP THAT MOST OF US DO!
If we want to be wildly successful and a crazy important INFLUENCER (which I’m betting you do, if you are reading this), we must have many, many, many conversations. With many, many, many people.
The trap we fall into is that we only talk to the people we think will be receptive. We judge by their demeanor, or their background, or their title who might be the most receptive audience.
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This is ONE WAY of protecting our mental space: Only talk with people who will not ignore you, say ‘no’, or not disagree.
That is not what is going to get us where we want to go!
Wildly successful people cannot afford to “play it safe”.
The Antidote?
FIND YOUR VISION
Whether you are in sales and you are committed to blowing your quota out of the water, or if you are trying to get a new project going in your community, or interested in making a change in the way your family gets along with each other – you are going to have to have conversations that are uncomfortable, risky, and not always rewarding.
When you have your VISION squarely in front of you and it resonates in your soul – or simply drives you to excellence from sheer desire to WIN – THAT is when you can start to move the needle on how effective you are.
THAT IS WHEN YOU BECOME UNSTOPPABLE
Let’s get a little bit obvious and trite here for a moment, but just to prove a grand point. Then, we will bring it back to YOUR success.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a vision, a dream. While his dream and his stand is VERY popular now – and we revere the man – you have got to remember that this man was COMPLETELY OUT OF HIS GOURD when he first started.
Nearly every conversation he had was risky and unpopular…at first. Then, it began to take hold.
Can you EVEN IMAGINE how many unpopular conversations he had to have with people? He was risking HIS livelihood and asking others to do the same.
But, know what? THEY DID! And sometimes at great cost to them and their families.
THE GOOD NEWS
Your goals are probably not as dangerous as Dr. King’s. (And if they are, I salute you! Go, Go, Go, GO, GO!)
But, they are lofty. Ideas and dreams and goals have a very short shelf life. They must be moved forward and they must gain momentum and this requires lots and lots of conversations.
CONVERSATIONS ARE THE ONLY THING IN THIS WORLD THAT MOVE THINGS FORWARD
So, if you want to be number 1 in sales, you have got to get great at having conversations. The more conversations you have, the better you will get at having them be effective the first time. But, you will not start there. And you will not finish there, either.
Every pro, in any field has started out by having conversations that did not work. They learned, they modified, they clarified. But, they could only learn, modify, and clarify by HAVING the conversations. They did not work them out in their heads.
Every pro, in any field, CONTINUES to have conversations that do not work. Some of us call these COLD CALLS. Others call it networking.
Do you know that TRUE PROS do NOT resist COLD CALLING? They KNOW that is where the action is and where their future lies. More about that later. (Your competition may know this, too.)
Here is what it looks like to be great at having conversations.
Be someone who has lots of them. Period.
It does NOT mean that your conversations will turn out the way you planned. It means that you are someone who is WILLING to have lots of conversations.
AND… Back to the title of the post!
The more conversations you have, the more discouraged you will become…
…if you are attached to them all turning out OK.
The reality is, if you can manage your mental space and be OK no matter HOW the conversation goes…
THE MORE CONVERSATIONS YOU HAVE, THE MORE WILD SUCCESS YOU WILL HAVE!
And, that is all!
Know that I admire your courage and dedication to whatever it takes.
Love ALL the conversations UP!
The Irreverent Sales Girl
You’re a smart person and I seem to see this phenomenon all over the place, but I haven’t yet been able to explain it. Got any ideas?
This Throw-Back-Thursday article published in May of 2012 and it just seems like the perfect post to come next. If you’ve been reading my articles this week and you got my Totally Irreverent Tuesday newsletter, you will see exactly what I mean!
If you believe that sales are founded on great relationships.
In my 20’s I got engaged to a drummer.
I was giving a cold-calling training yesterday and my participant told me that her boss wants her to come up with two scripts….one for talking to a GATEKEEPER and the other for talking to the DECISION MAKER.
Now look.