Whoever said sales was easy?
Do you find yourself having to multitask to achieve your targets?
Ever feel like your mind is exploding, unable to focus?
In today’s ever-demanding society, more and more is expected, and without the consideration of the effect that it is a highly stressful job that affects ones’ mental health. As salespeople, one needs to increase their mental toughness…
Sales’ is a high-stress job. Salespeople face a range of issues: Unresponsive prospects, tough competition, demanding quotas, and modern buyers who treat them like a last resort in a purchasing decision rather than an invaluable resource. Furthermore, many of them are dealing with more stakeholders -more personalities per deal than ever before.
To be successful, You Can’t let this stress stop you or even slow you down. The best salespeople have a lot of grit and fire, experiencing the same obstacles as their peers, but they’re far better at reacting to and ultimately overcoming these obstacles.
Here I would like to share with you four simple exercises that will certainly help you increase your own Mental Resilience. What I mean by this is: Resilience is not simply a person’s ability to ‘bounce back’, but their capacity to adapt in the face of challenging circumstances, whilst maintaining stable mental wellbeing.
I believe resilience is something that can change over time and that we, as individuals, have the power to change it. We believe that resilience can be taught and learned – that the elements that build resilience can be introduced into everyday life.
Many of the techniques I share with you follow the process of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) which I use within my coaching practice with clients. These techniques have a powerful impact when used correctly and consistently.
4 Ways to Boost Your Mental Resilience
1) Reframe Your Setbacks
This optimism allows them to transform their toughest experiences into catalysts for improved performance instead of viewing them as hindering obstacles, according to Seligman.
Next time you fail or things don’t go as planned, take a step back, evaluate and reflect on how you’re thinking about this misstep.
A less resilient salesperson might think:
This problem is going to last a long time and affect multiple aspects of my life or work – there’s nothing I can do to fix it.
On the other hand, a resilient one would think:
This situation isn’t ideal, but I can resolve it quickly with minimal consequences.
“People who don’t give up have a habit of interpreting setbacks as temporary, local, and changeable,” writes Martin Seligman, University of Pennsylvania psychologist professor and author of Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being.
2) Use the ABC Model- there are many types of ABC models however I find Albert Ellis’ model to be pretty powerful.
Some people respond to adversity with anxiety, which usually leads to self-defeating and disruptive behaviour. Others stay calm and identify if there is anything productive they can do to improve their situation. Unsurprisingly, resilient personalities usually follow the second behaviour pattern.
If you get overly stressed when you encounter issues, try psychologist and researcher Albert Ellis’s “ABC” model. Ellis designed this model to help people cope with adversity.
- Identify A: The Activating Event, or Trigger for your negative emotions.
- Recognize B: Your Beliefs, or Explanation for why the activating event happened.
- Establish C: The Consequences, or How you feel and What you do because of the event and your emotions; which is the combination of A + B.
This writing exercise distinguishes productive reactions from unproductive ones. Find time to do this and be consistent with it. I know that sometimes it is a bummer having to write things down but believe me, it has its benefits – It is something that I do often.
Here’s an example:
- A: A major deal falls through at the last minute.
- B: I didn’t spend enough time during discovery figuring out how my prospect’s buying process works, so I was blindsided when she needed a signature from an unexpected stakeholder. I’m not a good salesperson. I’m not going to meet the quota this quarter.
- C: I feel panicky, insecure, and embarrassed. I don’t want to call any new prospects.
Once you’ve finished writing, classify each belief as reasonable or unrealistic. While it’s fair to say you failed to fully investigate your prospect’s buying process, that oversight doesn’t make you a bad salesperson. It also doesn’t mean you’ll miss your quarterly quota.
Next, separate your reactions into healthy and unhealthy. Feeling negative is normal; however, you can’t let those feelings stop you from calling prospects.
By analysing your mindset it will help you calm down, gain perspective, refocus, and importantly avoid responding irrationally.
3) Identify The Silver Lining
Repressing negative feelings isn’t healthy or productive, so if you’re worried, upset, angry, frustrated, and so forth, don’t tell yourself you’re fine. Never tell yourself you are fine but on the other hand recognise it and say it’s not fine. You have a right to say what you feel and think and not suppress it.
What you can do?
Recognize the upside of the bad situation. For example, if one of your biggest accounts goes to your competitor, you might think:
Losing this customer is going to significantly impact my numbers for the next year. At the same time, they were growing at a rate our services team and platform couldn’t really support. Now we can focus on smaller accounts that are a better fit for our business.
According to Barbara Fredrickson, PhD, author of Positivity, Identifying one or two silver linings to every situation instead of focusing only on the consequences you’re not happy about increases your resiliency. That is because you have now become aware of it, and can begin to acknowledge it
Fredrickson also says that to thrive individual’s “positivity ratio” (their ratio of noticed positivity to noticed negative experiences) must be at least 3:1. She recommends making an effort to identify random positive experiences in day-to-day life.
Studies from Dr. Robert Emmons of the University of California, Davis and Dr. Michael McCullough of the University of Miami suggest, writing down things you are grateful for from the past week improves your mood and optimism.
Try writing down positive experiences every night or at the end of the week. A great free app- The free Happier app is also a great way that lets you to record happy moments on the go. You may also want to read my articles on Happiness https://www.londonprofessionals.co.uk/articles/postedBy/zeenat-noorani
4) Being Literal
Are you prone to generalizing statements, like, “I’m a horrible negotiator,” or “I’ll never be a top rep”?
Frederickson says this type of thinking triggers emotional patterns. In other words, one gloomy thought can trap you into a loop of pessimistic thinking and can become much hard to get out of. You might find yourself constantly drowning, unable to grab the life ring…
The good news is that you can break out by getting literal. So next time you think something like, “My rapport-building skills are awful,” ask yourself, “What proof do I have for that statement?”
Maybe you struggled to connect with the buyers on your last two calls, but you had a great connection with the prospects you spoke to this morning and last night. You can clearly build rapport – you just struggled in those two meetings.
You could also ask yourself, “Has my ability to put people at ease and get along with them improved since I started selling?” If the answer is yes – you can expect your rapport-building skills will continue to improve with practice.
The importance of resilience in sales can’t be underestimated. With these four exercises, you can survive and even thrive in trying times and be the superhero you want to be…
If you want to find out more about how I can support you by building your mental resilience and changing your mindset- book a free consultation call with me.
Take action now where I can: “Empower Your Mind- To Achieve The Life You Desire”
Who ever said sales was easy?
Do you find yourself having to multitask to achieve your targets?
Ever feel like your mind is exploding, unable to focus?
In today’s ever demanding society, more and more is expected, and that without the consideration of the affect that it is a high stressful job which affects ones’ mental health. As sales people one needs to increase their mental toughness…
Sales is a high-stress job. Salespeople face a range of issues: Unresponsive prospects, tough competition, demanding quotas, and modern buyers who treat them like a last resort in a purchasing decision rather than an invaluable resource. Furthermore, many of them are dealing with more stakeholders -more personalities per deal than ever before.
To be successful, You Can’t let this stress stop you or even slow you down. The best salespeople have a lot of grit and fire, experiencing the same obstacles as their peers, but they’re far better at reacting to and ultimately overcoming these obstacles.
Here I would like to share with you four simple exercise that will certainly help you increase your own Mental Resilience. What I mean by this is: Resilience is not simply a person’s ability to ‘bounce back’, but their capacity to adapt in the face of challenging circumstances, whilst maintaining a stable mental wellbeing.
I believe resilience is something that can change over time and that we, as individuals, have the power to change it. We believe that resilience can be taught and learned – that the elements that build resilience can be introduced into everyday life.
Many of the techniques I share with you follow the process of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) which I use within my coaching practice with clients. These techniques have a powerful impact when used correctly and consistently.
4 Ways to Boost Your Mental Resilience
1) Reframe Your Setbacks
This optimism allows them to transform their toughest experiences into catalysts for an improved performance instead of viewing them as hindering obstacles, according to Seligman.
Next time you fail or things don’t go as planned, take a step back, evaluate and reflect how you’re thinking about this mis-step.
A less resilient salesperson might think:
This problem is going to last a long time and affect multiple aspects of my life or work – there’s nothing I can do to fix it.
On the other hand, a resilient one would think:
This situation isn’t ideal, but I can resolve it quickly with minimal consequences.
“People who don’t give up have a habit of interpreting setbacks as temporary, local, and changeable,” writes Martin Seligman, University of Pennsylvania psychologist professor and author of Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being.
2) Use the ABC Model- there are many types of ABC models however I find Albert Ellis’ model to be pretty powerful.
Some people respond to adversity with anxiety, which usually leads to self-defeating and disruptive behaviour. Others stay calm and identify if there is anything productive they can do to improve their situation. Unsurprisingly, resilient personalities usually follow the second behaviour pattern.
If you get overly stressed when you encounter issues, try psychologist and researcher Albert Ellis’s “ABC” model. Ellis designed this model to help people cope with adversity.
- Identify A: The Activating Event, or Trigger for your negative emotions.
- Recognize B: Your Beliefs, or Explanation for why the activating event happened.
- Establish C: The Consequences, or How you feel and What you do because of the event and your emotions; which is the combination of A + B.
This writing exercise distinguishes productive reactions from unproductive ones. Find time to do this and be consistent with it. I know that sometimes it is a bummer having to write things down but believe me, it has its benefits – It is something that I do often.
Here’s an example:
- A: A major deal falls through at the last minute.
- B: I didn’t spend enough time during discovery figuring out how my prospect’s buying process works, so I was blindsided when she needed a signature from an unexpected stakeholder. I’m not a good salesperson. I’m not going to meet quota this quarter.
- C: I feel panicky, insecure, and embarrassed. I don’t want to call any new prospects.
Once you’ve finished writing, classify each belief as reasonable or unrealistic. While it’s fair to say you failed to fully investigate your prospect’s buying process, that oversight doesn’t make you a bad salesperson. It also doesn’t mean you’ll miss your quarterly quota.
Next, separate your reactions into healthy and unhealthy. Feeling negative is normal; however, you can’t let those feelings stop you from calling prospects.
By analysing your mindset it will help you calm down, gain perspective, refocus and importantly avoid responding irrationally.
3) Identify The Silver Lining
Repressing negative feelings isn’t healthy or productive, so if you’re worried, upset, angry, frustrated, and so forth, don’t tell yourself you’re fine. Never tell yourself you are fine but on the other hand recognise it and says it’s not fine. You have a right to say what you feel and think and not supress it.
What you can do?
Recognize the upside of the bad situation. For example, if one of your biggest accounts goes to your competitor, you might think:
Losing this customer is going to significantly impact my numbers for the next year. At the same time, they were growing at a rate our services team and platform couldn’t really support. Now we can focus on smaller accounts who are a better fit for our business.
According to Barbara Fredrickson, PhD, author of Positivity, Identifying one or two silver linings to every situation instead of focusing only on the consequences you’re not happy about increases your resiliency. That is because you have now become aware of it, and can begin to acknowledge it
Fredrickson also says that to thrive individual’s “positivity ratio” (their ratio of noticed positivity to noticed negative experiences) must be at least 3:1. She recommends making an effort to identify random positive experiences in day-to-day life.
Studies from Dr. Robert Emmons of the University of California, Davis and Dr Michael McCullough of the University of Miami suggests, writing down things you are grateful for from the past week improves your mood and optimism.
Try writing down positive experiences every night or at the end of the week. A great free app- The free Happier app is also a great way that lets you record happy moments on-the-go. You may also want to read my articles on Happiness https://www.londonprofessionals.co.uk/articles/postedBy/zeenat-noorani
4) Being Literal
Are you prone to generalizing statements, like, “I’m a horrible negotiator,” or “I’ll never be a top rep”?
Frederickson says this type of thinking triggers emotional patterns. In other words, one gloomy thought can trap you into a loop of pessimistic thinking and can become much hard to get out of. You might find yourself constantly drowning, unable to grab the life ring…
The good news is that you can break out by getting literal. So next time you think something like, “My rapport-building skills are awful,” ask yourself, “What proof do I have for that statement?”
Maybe you struggled to connect with the buyers on your last two calls, but you had a great connection with the prospects you spoke to this morning and last night. You can clearly build rapport – you just struggled in those two meetings.
You could also ask yourself, “Has my ability to put people at ease and get along with them improved since I started selling?” If the answer is yes – you can expect your rapport-building skills will continue to improve with practice.
The importance of resilience in sales can’t be underestimated. With these four exercises, you can survive and even thrive in trying times and be the superhero you want to be…
If you want to find out more on how I can support you through building your mental resilience and changing mindset- book a free consultation call with me.
Take action now where I can: “Empower Your Mind- To Achieve The Life You Desire”