Growth Dynamics Get Down

If you haven’t spent some time over the last few weeks feeling those emotions, you must be some sort of alien. I admit that in these hours when I’m sitting in my new office (bedroom overstuffed chair) there are moments when fear and anger creep from my subconscious mind to full awareness as I consider what this pandemic is doing to my life, my business, my future and my entire world. I suspect you’ve experienced the same thing, at least I hope you have.

Self-preservation is a strong motivator, particularly when the environment seems to be less safe and accommodating. As Maslow indicates in his Hierarchy of Needs, the Physiological is the most basic. At our core we are creatures that want our personal needs met before thinking about the needs of others. When we find ourselves threatened our instincts are to look out for number one first and foremost from both a logical and emotional perspective.

Your attitude is your compass to the future. Imagine if you were one of Christopher Columbus’ three small ships heading off to find the New World over 500 years ago. That leap of faith is amazing when you consider the common belief that the world was flat, and certain death awaited anyone that challenged that paradigm by sailing in search of an unknown destination. Certainly, some of those sailors had moments of doubt as the days slipped by and there was no land in sight. “When will this folly end and our feet will be on terra firma again?” had to be a common question asked in hushed tones.

Yes, I’d much rather not be typing this post, but I can’t worry about what I cannot not change or control. Working from home is not nearly as engaging as standing in front of room of salespeople or even responding electronically to requests for coaching. And making sales calls on people that don’t know when their sales teams will be back in the marketplace feels a bit peculiar to say the least. Two weeks ago, few people thought this is the world we’d be working in today, but here we are.

Symptoms
Melody and her boss just couldn't understand why she continued to struggle to close business. She was a very outgoing person who was extremely well liked by her customers. She went out of her way to be friendly to everyone and appeared to possess a good knowledge of her product and the selling process. Her failure to excel was confusing to everyone.

Today we are all facing a challenge that two weeks ago seemed as likely as pigs flying. Yet, here we are facing a sales challenge you won’t find talked about in any sales training manuals or motivational seminars. Essentially, the world has shut down for almost everyone, and none of us can truly say, with any certainty, when it will reopen. With that reality staring us in the face I thought I’d take some time this evening and make some suggestions about how to survive the challenges in front of all salespeople. Below you will find a few ideas for each of the three points of our MAP to Success: Mindset, Activity and Process.

Despite your best intentions, every relationship will hit a boiling point. It’s unfortunate but inevitable. However, a disagreement with your partner, a family member or a coworker doesn’t have to escalate into a larger problem if you take immediate action to defuse the situation.

Monday Morning Manager

Symptoms:

Hayden was ready for her first call of the day. She had a referral into this prospect's office and had been told they were in need of getting products fast...very fast. In preparation for her meeting she pulled timelines, shipping schedules and production pieces that could impact their products she thought this prospect was interested in.

Prospecting is the lifeblood of sales success. Most people that have made it past their first 12-24 months of sales realize this basic fact. Without prospecting there is no selling to be done, period. When you haven’t got a prospect to talk to you are dead in the water, maybe staring at the phone hoping it will ring or working to craft the silver bullet email blast that generates tons of inquiries. In my 40 plus years of selling I haven’t seen either of those strategies produce consistent results for anyone. But I have seen some people that are committed prospectors make one mistake over and over, failing to realize that prospecting and selling are distinctly different parts of a successful business development process.