| Who is this blog for: 1) Any salesperson who needs to get in front of more prospects consistently. 2) Sales managers who have people on their teams who are not prospecting and converting. 3) For the salesperson ready to own up to their true potential. Excuses are rationalizations we make to ourselves about prospects, prospecting activity, and the current market conditions. They are invented reasons we create to defend our behavior, to postpone getting on the phone or getting out into the market. Excuses lead to regrets and stagnation. Sales Call Reluctance® is the emotional hesitation to prospect and promote. It is a fear, which is a mental response to a perceived threat. It is based on fleeting emotions and puts the brake on sales careers. What is your favorite excuse for not prospecting? The first step in overcoming Sales Call Reluctance is to recognize the source of the reluctance, the fear of proactively initiating contact with potential buyers. You can do this by taking the assessment that measures the 16 types of Sales Call Reluctance. (Yes, I administer, interpret the assessment, and coach all types of salespeople.) Fear of prospecting causes the amygdala, the brain’s fear center, to hijack your prospecting. Thought-disturbing hormones like cortisol and adrenaline rush through our blood vessels, we check the market one more time, escape from prospecting activity, and we eat another donut. Cortisol (stress hormone) makes us insatiably hungry and attaches sugar to our blood cells. Ever wonder why there is so much diabetes due to stress? The second step to stress-free prospecting is admitting to your Sales Call Reluctance. Admission can cause discomfort; however, you can overcome this career-debilitating fear with compassionate inquiry and neuroscientific proven techniques. The moment you admit to yourself the excuses you are making, you are already self-correcting and on the path to releasing the fear. We feel the stress of prospecting because of the meaning we assign to something. If a prospect tells you no, not interested, what do we make it mean? When a genuinely qualified prospect tells you no, that can be the beginning of your sales process unless you are a one-call close sale with an infinite number of prospects. |
| Five steps to becoming an effective lead generator: |
1. Nutrition plays a big part toward your success in sales. Proper food, supplements, and alcohol-free beverages make all the difference in the world. Dr. Alan Watkins claims we are going nowhere fast without healthy bodies, the ability to manage emotions, and mental fitness, which is how quickly you can shift from negative to positive responses when dealing with challenges. It takes physical and psychological energy to prospect. |
| 2. Your prospecting mentality must be cultivated daily to manage your prospecting success. Asking yourself the right questions that engage your executive brain instead of your fear brain is essential. a. What is the value you create for your prospects? How curious can you get about the perspective of your prospect? This value-genic mindset is so critical to your complete success. Going into a prospecting call with a self-centric mindset of “What’s in it for me?” “How do I get what I want?” “How can I impress them?” makes it easy for the prospect to say “no” or to give you a counterfeit “yes” to never allow you in their space again. 3. Avoid the ravages of prospecting stress through consistent exercise, restful sleep, a sense of humor, and healthy personal and professional relationships. The hypothalamus is the chemical factory in the brain; it makes and secretes hormones according to the thoughts we are thinking! We want happy hormones rushing through our blood vessels, not stress hormones that age us and add weight. 4. Techniques to help us stay calm and centered throughout prospecting activity are essential. For years I resisted listening to the experts that said “breathe” – my mindset was, “I don’t have time to breathe. I have too much to do.” What a dumb and, costly excuse. We can reset our emotions within 90-seconds, according to neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D. Try this: Put your hands together at your fingertips, close your eyes, breathe in for the count of 4 and out to the count of 6. Do this four times and you’ll reset an emotional hijack. It takes practice. It is doable, and you can master your emotions. 5. Learn Tactical empathy per Chris Voss, former FBI hostage negotiator, “use neuroscience concepts to influence the emotions of your prospects.” Demonstrate how deeply you are listening to their needs, wants and fears, demonstrate you see things from their point of view before you jump into FIX. The old-school way of listening to prematurely FIX the problem rarely works. Many seasoned salespeople are blowing appointments because they are unwilling to up-level their skills. Interacting with prospects takes practice and mastery. Prospects are educated and savvy. They can feel your energy, attitude, credibility, and sincerity. Stop getting the gut-wrenching email that says: “Thank you. We decided to go another direction.” Stay away from negative people who play the ain’t it awful game. Also, neuroscientists continue to tell us to clean up our eating habits. Drinking, drugs, sodas, sugar, too many carbs, and smoking are detrimental to our future success. |
| Feel free to take a complimentary Prospecting EKG: https://www.exceptionalsales.com/services/workshop-training/your-prospecting-ekg-complimentary/ Then, if you are interested in investing in a comprehensive assessment, debrief, and coaching strategy session, please call me at 602-380-5431 or email me at [email protected]. |
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