Getting and Staying Motivated in Sales

Sales is one of the hardest jobs one can do. Weather you sell insurance, homes, cars, toothbrushes, fridges or widgets you have to deal with irrational, irate, unrealistic customers on a daily basis as well as meet the demands for sales quotas by your employer. You receive more rejection in one day than an average 9-5 person sees in one month. So how do you stay in sales with so much pressure? What can you do to get motivated and stay motivated?

Here are some things to consider:

• EAT A GOOD BREAKFAST- This sounds corny but having enough energy to carry yourself into the work day is important. If you are not energized to take an early morning customer/client then you will miss an opportunity.
• HAVE A GAME PLAN- Know what you are going to do that day. Fill out a tracking sheet so you know where you are and where you are headed. If you are off track from where you want to be then you know what you need to sell that day to get back on track.
• GET FOCUSED ON THE DAY- Start a few minutes early. Know your inventory. Know who you are going to meet with today. Look through your past few days visits/clients and see who you can get back in touch with.
• STAY BUSY- If you are not with a customer it is natural for you to sit back and gossip with the other sales people or peopel in your office. We all know that gossip can be counter productive to motivation. Go prospect on the phones. Do some outside prospecting by handing out brochures or business cards to local businesses.
• REMEMBER THE MONEY- We all come to work to earn it. Keep the vision by remembering the reward for all of those mundane calls, the 'strokers' and the people who can not buy. Keep telling yourself, 'I am one more customer closer to a sale.' (SALES=$$$)
• WORK ON PERFECTING YOUR WEAKNESSES AND STRENGTHS- Constant training can be a motivation. When you learn a new technique to overcome a weakness you have then it makes you more confident and you can handle that situation with a customer more readily. Also accentuate your strengths and use them to your advantage when leading customers, building rapport or closing.
• HAVE A HAPPY ENVIRONMENT- A happy environment is a productive environment. What do you do when you are not in one? Ignore the people who 'whine' and 'moan' about everything. Get away from them. Tell them to go away! They are just taking up your time and trying to bring you down with them.
• LET IT GO- If a situation with a customer happens-don't take it personally. Brush it off and move on. Don't dwell on it. STUFF HAPPENS! When it does deal with it and then let it go. I have seen too many sales people let a bad moment affect the rest of their day and they get cracked mentally. If you have a bad customer remember, IT IS NOT YOU!

Getting motivated and staying motivated is all up to you. No one can motivate you. A boss or manager can yell and scream and threaten you but, only you can get yourself going and keep the momentum needed to sustain a great sales career! It all resides within the six inches between your ears. It is your mind, let it direct your life--do not let it hinder your life.

GET GOING! STAY MOTIVATED!