Be Bold: Delete Your Frustration
AG Salesworks is pleased to bring you a guest post from Jeff Shore, an in-demand sales expert, author, speaker and executive coach.
Summary: We have a choice when it comes to the frustration we feel about our perceived lack of control: we can focus on trying to get away from frustration or we can focus on how we can pursue excellence in the face of it.
People have a lot to say about control. We tell ourselves and each other that we can’t control other people, we can’t control circumstances, we can’t control the weather, we simply can’t control what we can’t control! We shake our heads at ourselves when we realize that we are being “control freaks” and we really shake our heads when we witness others being control freaks. As a professional inside sales rep, you have a front row seat to the myriad of ways that a set of circumstances can be out of your control. There are times when you have every reason to believe that you have a good lead... and it ends up being a huge dead end. Maybe your presentation is going great and the clients are enthusiastic and responsive... and then they abruptly leave and you never hear from them again. Perhaps your product is unique and innovative and everyone is excited and supportive about it... and then a flaw is discovered and all the energy and plans around it die as fast as a balloon pops. These realities of the sales world can convince a person that they have zero control over their own success. Don’t believe it!
Contrary to what you may believe that “proof” has shown, you have more control over your success than you think you do. Increasing success starts with an understanding that frustrations are pathways to growth. The choice that frustration offers us is to try getting away from it or to be bold and focus on how we can pursue excellence in the face of it. That sounds a little lofty, but it is actually quite simple and extremely freeing.
Start by identifying one frustration in your life. It can be anything... Maybe it is getting your basement painted. Or getting to the bottom of your inbox. Or a difficult type of prospect. Whatever it is, write it down. Next, write down the ideal future mental state of things in regard to that frustration. (In the case of the paint-needy basement, the ideal state would be “people enjoying the basement,” not “painting the basement.”) Now, cross out the frustration. Or, erase it. Delete it. Rip it to shreds if that helps. Burning can be nice. Keep the ideal state that you wrote down. Now, considering the ideal state you want to get to, determine the very first small step you need to take to get closer to it. Think small. Is the first step to have a conversation with your spouse about the basement color? Is the first step to put on the shared family calendar: “Talk about basement paint colors?” Whatever it is, do it. If you have to make a plan to do it, you need to think smaller. The first step should be something you can do very soon, if not immediately. Once you have achieved the first small step, determine what the next step is and do that. Keep repeating this process and as you get closer and closer to your ideal state, you will gain momentum. All the while, your energy is being put towards a positive outcome, not into figuring out how to get away from the churning, nagging frustration!
Now, apply this approach to your sales presentation: determine ideal mental states, delete your frustrations, and take small, continual steps toward the ideals. Changing your focus like this will change your world...and someone else’s too!
If you change your mindset, you will change your world. Equip yourself with timely, powerful tools to conquer your inner discomfort, win more sales and create amazing results for your customers and yourself: sign up for my weekly, FREE, instructional/motivational video, The Shore Thing, at jeffshore.com.
Jeff Shore is a highly sought-after sales expert, speaker, author and executive coach whose innovative BE BOLD methodology teaches you how to change your mindset and change your world. For more than three decades, Jeff has guided executives and sales teams in large and small companies across the globe to embrace their discomforts and deliver BOLD sales results. In a crowded field of sales experts and training programs, Jeff Shore stands out with his research-based BE BOLD methodology. Combining his extensive front-line sales experience with the latest Cognitive Behavioral Therapy research, Jeff has created a highly effective, personalized way to reset sales paradigms and deliver industry-leading results. Jeff doesn’t just teach you how to sell, he shows you how to change your mindset and change your world.His latest book, "Be Bold and Win the Sale: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone and Boost Your Performance," (McGraw-Hill) was published in January, 2014. Learn more at jeffshore.com and follow Jeff on Twitter.
