Your Fear Boomerang!

Wow!  Where did that come from?  I thought I had beaten that particular fear forever!

And now it has come back?  What is this?  Some sort of “fear boomerang?”

Have you ever felt that way before?

I was always an excellent prospector.  I could prospect very effectively on the telephone or in person.  I enjoyed my interaction with gatekeepers.  I considered it “playing with people”.  For the most part, I think the prospects and gatekeepers enjoyed the contact as well.  I would make them laugh.  I was polite and cordial.  I made the process fun.

I remember going out with a new sales person in the Dallas area.  We did a prospecting Action Block, and in two hours I scheduled 7 appointments with decision makers out of 14 face to face cold calls.

Yes.  I was the king of prospecting… or so I liked for people to think.

But the truth is that no matter how good I was…

no matter how comfortable I felt…

I began each day with a few butterflies in anticipation of making my cold calls.  It was if my prospecting fear was a boomerang.  No matter how far I threw it – it just seemed to come back.

So how did I manage to overcome the fear?

I didn’t!

“Say it isn’t so – oh wise and wonderful Sales Tour Guide!”  I know that is what you are thinking! 🙂

The truth is that I didn’t overcome those feelings.  I just learned ways to make those feelings subside.

Try this simple process the next time you experience fear at any point in your sales process:

1. Take a look at your “Why.”    Have a physical representation – a touchstone of sorts that you keep with you that represents your top reason that you will do the work.  As you begin to do the activities that create anxiety, the positive emotions you generate by holding and looking at this touchstone will create the energy you need to move forward.
2. Jump in the pool!  Make the first few calls early in the day and quickly.  I always found that the nervous feelings I had would subside after about 5 or 6 calls.  Think about it like jumping into a pool of water.  Don’t wade in and get used to it gradually.  Jump in and get used to it quickly.
3. Use Action Blocks.  If you learn to do your activities in the Action Block format, you will find that your fear decreases.  Prospecting all day may be an issue for you.  However, anyone can prospect for 2 hours at a time.

QUESTION:  Have you implemented the Action Block format into your sales model?

Photo: boomerang-59943-m by Marcel Hol. Licensed through www.freeimages.com