Sales Slump

Mental preparation for improved performance

Imagine yourself stepping on  the golf green as you prepare to putt for par. When you look at the hole to gauge your shot, you notice that the hole is much larger than its normal size.

Now imagine yourself at bat during your company softball tournament. You walk up to the plate and notice the ball the pitcher is about to toss your direction is the size of a basketball. How would these new circumstances impact your game?

Let’s try one more. . . . Imagine the potential customer base for your product is twice as large your current estimation? How would this “new reality” impact your sales results?

According to scientists in two studies at the University of Virginia, softball players and golfers who had good games perceived balls and golf holes as being larger than players who had bad games.

Could it be the holes that Tiger Woods sees are twice as large as what his competitors see?

This applies to the business world as well. Professionals that expect more and see larger opportunities usually get them!

-Jim
Article used by permission - © 2009 SuccessCo.com

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Getting out of a slump

I am a firm believer that a sales slump is nothing more than a state of mind that begins by consciously or unconsciously thinking about it. This is why professional athletes don’t talk about it or quickly change the subject when the question is raised.

If you understand the law of attraction, you know firsthand that you will be drawn to what it is you think about and focus on. Therefore, by dwelling on ‘why you are not selling’ up to par, you are destined to make that your reality.

My recommendation for getting out of a sales slump – the second the though of being in one enters your mind, force it from your thoughts as quickly as possible. Absorb yourself with positive reinforcements such as a good business book, audio or truly professional people. (Run like hell from other sales people who enable doubts and uncertainty – you don’t need empathy, you need to change the subject)

Rather than spend a lot of time writing about sales slumps on this blog, I will defer those that absolutely must read more to SalesSlump.com

-Jim

© 2009 SuccessCo.com

Do You Think Motivational Thoughts?

What do motivational thoughts do? They help you take action. This isn't about positive thinking or motivating quotes. Those have their place in shaping your attitude and thinking. However, what motivates each of us is unique, so you need to have your own thoughts - those which are most effective at getting you going.

"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity" - Albert Einstein

This is a decent quote, and it may help you look at the positive side of a situation, but what if it just doesn't get you excited? Then you need to apply a little brainpower to make the idea your own. You have to make it a truly motivational thought for YOU.

Motivational Thoughts Of Your Own

"Making it your own" means experimenting with a good thought until you find a way to use it in your own recipe for motivation. Suppose, for example, you're in a difficult situation and don't feel like dealing with it. As you sit there, you play around with the idea of opportunity coming from difficulty. Fortunately, you discover that it pulls you out of your slump to think about yourself in the future, explaining to a friend how you turned the difficult situation to your advantage.

This is how you create your own motivational thoughts. Now, it might be more motivating if you imagine yourself being interviewed someday about how you overcame this difficult time. The thoughts that work for you are the thoughts you need to be thinking.

Learn Your Motivations

Experiment and get to know how your mind works. I find that beyond just thinking a thought, if I explain it to someone, I get excited. That is my own self-motivation recipe. When I feel unmotivated about writing, for example, all I explain an idea I have for some article to my wife. By the time I am done, I'm very motivated to work.

You can get creative in your motivational experiments. Maybe thinking about being poor makes you get up and get to work. If so, that is a great motivational thought. If visual thoughts are more motivating than mental conversations, then use those. See pictures in your head that get you going. Perhaps when people say you can't do something, you do whatever it takes to prove them wrong. Then it might be motivational to think about them saying you can't.

When there is a truly uninspiring task you have to do, try promising yourself a reward for completion - make it one that really means something to you. Keep that thought in your mind to keep yourself motivated. A trip to the beach and even a simple bowl of ice cream may be some of your more powerful motivational thoughts.

About the Author - Steve Gillman has been studying brainpower and related topics for years. For more on Motivational Thoughts, and to get the Brain Power Newsletter and other free gifts, visit IncreaseBrainPower.com

Self Motivation Secrets

We all have a lack of self motivation at times. We can learn a hundred ways to improve our lives, but then hesitate to act. Something less important catches our attention, or we just don't feel like doing what we need to do. Even a person who is normally highly motivated can sometimes have a hard time getting started on an important task.

Is there a solution? There are probably dozens of them. Below are six of the best self motivation techniques that consistently work when used. Try them all, but if you find even one or two here that work for you, you'll be on your way.

Self Motivation Techniques That Work

1. Talk to get motivated. One of my favorite ways to create energy and motivation is to talk. Once I tell my wife about the article I'm going to write, I'm out of my slump and back at the keyboard. For less inspiring tasks, talk about the larger goals it will help you achieve.

2. Stimulate your desire. Seeing their potential future motivates many to sign up for get-rich-quick plans. The really good salesmen can put you in your imagined dream home in minutes, and make you feel motivated to do anything to make it real. Learn to be your own salesman.

3. Stimulate your pain. One Neuro-Linguistic Programming technique is to mentally link pain with not acting. It is like when finally stop hitting that snooze button on the alarm, and get up because you think you might lose your job. Just imagine any bad consequences that may occur if you don't do what you need to do.

4. Find a true interest. If you have no interest in what you are doing, it might mean you need to do something else. If it's just a task you dislike, but it needs to be done, relate it clearly in your mind to the greater goal. I don't like to drive, but I don't have a motivation problem when I'm driving to the mountains for a vacation.

5. Boost your energy. You need energy for self motivation. Coffee may help for a while, if caffeine doesn't create other problems for you. Exercising and sleeping well help too. Yo should also watch out for sugary foods. The "sugar blues"kill motivation. Once you find energy boosters that work for you, make a list and keep it handy for future use.

6. Take any small step. I've found if I commit to raking up one bag of leaves, I soon want to finish all the yard work. Taking any small step towards your goals is a great self motivation technique. To make this even easier, break larger goals down into small steps.

Motivation techniques really do work, but don't ask me how to get motivated to use them. In any case, you were motivated enough to read this far, so you'll be fine. Oh, and humor is number seven. A good laugh can overcome that feeling of being overwhelmed that sucks away self motivation.

About the Author: Steve Gillman has been studying brainpower and related topics for years. For more on How To Increase Brain Power, and to get the Brain Power Newsletter and other free gifts, visit IncreaseBrainPower.com

Self Improvement Slump: How To Pull Yourself Out Of The Hole

We’ve all been there. We get excited about some major new goal in our life, we get all fired up about making it happen, and then… zilch. Nothing happens. The very lives that we want to improve via our personal development and self improvement efforts get in our way, and our dreams of success on a massive scale fall by the wayside.

This is especially common when it comes to financial success or weight loss, and that is probably due to the fact that attaining financial stability or sustained weight loss are both things that take an on-going and consistent effort over the long-term.

The key to pulling yourself out of this self improvement slump is to find ways to once again become passionate about whatever it was that you wanted to accomplish in the first place.

A lot of people decide on some sort of personal development or self improvement program after a negative experience, and their goal becomes not wanting to experience that same type of situation again.

However, is NOT wanting something to happen really a strong enough motivation to keep yourself on track over the long-term so that you can attain the opposite of that thing?

For example, if you decide that you are finally going to get your finances together because you almost got kicked out of your apartment for not paying the rent, or you walked to work for 2 weeks until you could afford to get your car fixed, both of those experiences are pretty powerful motivators.

However, once you are back inside the comfort zone of having enough money to pay the bills, and your car is running fine, where is the motivation to achieve financial freedom that will keep you burning the midnight oil and working weekends in order to make that happen?

Another example is weight loss. If someone makes fun of you or if you have some other negative experience as a result of the fact that you are overweight, you’ll have your brand-new exercise and weight loss program planned out before you even get home that day!

However, after the pain of that incident fades, or you find some way to temporarily fill the emotional gap in your life that in the past has been empty as a result of your health, your motivation to workout 5 or 6 days each week and to eat healthy foods also fades away.

So, the key to keeping your motivational fires burning lies in finding ways to continually be as passionate about attaining your goals as you were when you first decided to do so.

One possible method for doing this could be to mentally relive the time in your life that caused you to decide to make changes in the first place. However, that definitely smacks of “living in the past” as well as “focusing on the negative” so a more proactive approach would probably serve you better.

Instead of thinking back on bad times that caused you to want to make positive changes in your life, why not envision future good times instead?

What would your life be like if you had more than enough money to pay your rent or your mortgage each month, you had 2 or 3 nice cars in the driveway, all of your expenses were covered, and you still had “play” money left over?

Consistent and repeated visualization of what your life will be like when money is no longer an issue will keep you motivated to do what it takes in order to achieve that financial success.

The same process can be used for weight loss or any other area of your life that you want to improve. Put powerful and emotional pictures in your mind of the life that you will lead once you have achieved your dreams, and focus intensely on those images as often as you can – preferably several times each day.

The key to this process is consistency. It has already been shown that humans have the ability – indeed, the very habit – of getting motivated about their dreams, but then not following through. If you do not consistently dream about and feel passionate about your desires, you will simply fall right back into the same trap that has already kept you from attaining success.

There is a saying that goes something along the following lines, and you would do well to put this somewhere that you will see it often. Paste it up where you will see it during the parts of your day when you have the most difficulty sticking to your success plan:

“Do today what others won’t, so you can do tomorrow what others can’t.”

Winners and successful people do whatever it takes day in and day out, month after month, and year after year in order to achieve success.

Do you want to be a winner, or do you want to just let yourself fall back into another self improvement slump?

About the Author - Aaron Potts is the founder of the Today is that Day Success Community, and the author of Energy Harmonics, which teaches about self improvement, vibratory alignment, and the Law of Attraction. Visit his site at todayisthatday.com to get his free newsletter.

Avoiding A Sales Slump

A sales slump occurs when a business is not able to sell to its true potential over a sustained period. Not being able to clinch a deal becomes like a self-fulfilling prophecy. You seem to be caught in a quagmire and are unable to get out of it. Do not get overwhelmed by such a situation. You must recognize that you have to take charge and manage your mind to minimize the effects of a slump and reduce their frequency.

Beating a Sales Slump:

Recognizing a Slump: Having one lost order, or a bad sales performance does not imply that your business is in a slump. It’s only when there are a number of poor results that you need to be concerned and start thinking. Make your own judgment about how sales are doing and do not get too influenced by “knowledgeable” friends who claim to have the prescience to see slumps.

Identifying the Problem:

Once you have decided that the sales slowdown you are experiencing needs to be addressed begin by getting down to the basics. Try to identify the selling weakness. In fact, you may well know the problem areas but may be attributing it to someone else. Make a list of the two or three most important issues that need to be tackled on priority and remedying these.

Ideas to Improve Sales:

Begin by adopting a changed routine. This will give you a changed perspective and influence your approach to the actions required to resolve the problematic issues. Some other useful hints are:

Positive Approach:

Think positively and meet up with successful people. Avoid interacting with negative-minded people and underachievers who have nothing to contribute. Have a session with your mentor or coach and get some ideas.

• Re-examine your Presentation- It may well be that the sales presentation is outdated and you need to adopt a different approach. You will rarely go wrong if you focus on the customer. Talk to your best customers and see if they are of help in identifying your problem. It is a good idea to videotape your presentation and find help to get your presentation evaluated by someone who can offer constructive feedback.

• Try to Relax- Slumps can be very demoralizing. Since they are a major cause of worry, you tend to spend a great deal of negative energy trying all possible ways to defeat the slump. This affects your selling skills adversely. The best solution is to relax and work on a previously figured out plan. Various options for relaxing include listening to your favorite song before a presentation, taking a day off to return with renewed vigor and generally having fun.

Going through a slump can be a very trying experience. However, with confidence in your abilities, a positive attitude and staying one step ahead of events, you can surely work your way out of a bad patch and keep your sales soaring.

Alexander Gordon is a writer for smallbusinessconsulting.com - The Small Business Consulting Community. Sign-up for the free success steps newsletter and get our booklet valued at $24.95 for free as a special bonus. The newsletter provides daily strategies on starting and significantly growing a business.

Suffering A Seasonal Sales Slump?

Suffering A Seasonal Sales Slump?
Solve it with a Holiday
"Sharpen Your Sales" Tune Up!

It's that time of year again, when sales volume slumps during the holiday season. The CEOs and Sales Managers I work with have fits this time of year. They know their sales forces are mentally preparing well in advance of the holiday season for the usual mental check out, or what I refer to as the Seasonal Sales Melt Down, or Seasonal Sales Slump.

Their bad news is good news for me, because the Seasonal Sales Slump brings me business. My programs, SalesMastery, PerformanceMastery, GoalMastery, a Sales Tune-Up or my ESP Program all solve the Slump by keeping sales forces in line and on target.

The bad news for the Sales Industry is the lack of sales effort which yields low sales volume. Yet the one element that increases over the holidays ¡s the increase of excuses of why this didn't happen, or why their usual markets weren't receptive, and new markets were too busy with other things to give them the time and attention they need for an adequate sales presentation. That excuse list is long and wide all yielding little or no results (sales) for your department.

December a few years ago, when I was Vice President for a Dallas based Merger and Acquisitions firm with 80 sales people, the CEO frowned, paced and grumbled for the entire month. Why? No holiday business, no sales, no revenue, year after year. The sales force basically checked out and took the whole month off. Yet, in the midst of their Seasonal Sales Slump, one of their Sales People had his BEST month ever in the history of the company. In November, that Salesperson committed to reject any of his own pre-conceived excuses and he chose not to listen to the sales nay-sayers around him. Instead he affirmed that he was going to have a great month. Rather than join the others around the water cooler and the Christmas Tree, he worked hard with effective planned activity and had his best month ever. The next year we started our Seasonal Sales "prevent planning" in August, offering new incentives programs and extended our major sales contest through January, rather than November, when it usually ended. It worked and we posted record sales at year's end.

More specifically, a few years ago, a graduate of my two day SalesMastery course called me in November to tell me he was going to change his tactics for the Holiday Season. This was the year he was escaping from his self imposed sales box. He remembered that in SalesMastery I teach "NOT TO SEND Impersonal Holiday Cards." Instead, he decided to personally deliver, face to face, gift baskets and personalized calendars to around 20 of his Most Valuable Clients. His plan was to keep most of his December schedule clean so he could attempt as many personal deliveries as possible. Well, it worked. Without any prior notification, he focused on just dropping by his client's homes to make the personal deliveries. An amazing thing happened. First, his clients were totally surprised and caught off guard and pleased by his "personal touch" during the holidays. Even better, most of his clients asked him about additional financial services and investments strategies which resulted in his best ever December sales month. All of this was a direct result of his stopping by with a personal holiday gift of significance.

The law of sales averages continues to work against most sales people. I often see this trend in dealing with sales people on a daily basis: 5% excel at their trade, and the other 95% are just average or even below average. The 5%'ers will do what it takes to have a great Holiday "Sales Season" and refuse to accept the excuses of the sales people who will mentally check out over the holidays.

Here is a list of Holiday Mental Check Out excuses I have heard:

"My industry takes the month of December off."¨
"I have morals. I don't want to call or contact anyone during the holidays."
"I don't like to be sold anything during the holidays, so I don't want to sell."
"The holidays are not for business. It is a time for family."
"I am so focused during the other 11 months; I need to check out in December to recharge my batteries."
"Nobody buys in December unless it is for holiday gifts."
"None of my clients want to talk business during the holidays."
These excuses, based entirely on self imposed limitations, have no merit or foundation. Perhaps they stem from a lack of discipline, a lack of commitment or just plain laziness. Regardless of the source, there is no justifications for these excuses!

The old adage states "most people organize and put more effort into planning their yearly one week vacation than they spend on planning their lives." Same thing with the holidays, the majority of sales people spend more time planning their parties, time off, gift list, etc., rather than spending time on planning to have the best sales December ever. Even management teams place more significance on the yearly holiday party rather than the December business plan. As Jim Rohn says, "Escape is easier than change."

So, how do we overcome the Seasonal Sales Slump? Check out these Professional Pointers for the best Holiday Sales Season you have ever had:

Start planning preventable measures way in advance of the holidays.
Have a specific written goal and plan for your holiday sales. After writing out the plan, IMPLEMENT the plan. Publish your plan to your peers and ask others to hold you accountable to your plan.

Being sales "distinctive" creates T.O.M.A. = Top Of Mind Awareness. Take the top 20% of your client base and do something SIGNIFICANT and PERSONAL for them as evidenced by the SalesMastery Graduate. This type of correct activity will place you at the TOP of their awareness. When you are at the TOP of their awareness, you just may create an Advocate who will give you all their business AND refer additional clients to you.
STOP sending generic impersonal types of Holiday Greeting Cards. Send a Holiday card that is personalized, or don't send anything at all.

Personal means this: A Hallmark or better card, a personal hand written note on the inside of the card, place a small surprise in the inside of the card, it could be something as simple as a bag of Tazo Tea. Hand write the name and address on the envelope, paste a nice holiday type stamp on the envelope for postage and as my SalesMastery Graduates know, the envelope must have a fun holiday sticker on it as well. Have these complete and mailed by the first week of December. This type of effort helps build client intimacy, it is distinctive and it will create major T.O.M.A.

Impersonal means this: Pre-packaged generic holiday cards with your company name printed on the inside of the card and you whip out your business card from a stack of 1000 and insert it into the card; followed by a white mailing label against a green/red/white holiday envelope followed by the disastrous postage machine metered stamp. Now that's impressive, don't you think?

Stay sales disciplined, and do not give in to the many holiday temptations that pull you away from achieving your goals. Pick your battles - meaning you don't have to go to every holiday party nor do you need to eat a piece of chocolate off of every plate that passes by your desk . . . well maybe just one(smiles)! Keeping your positive energy and maintaining good health will help you increase your sales during the holidays.

Be pro active in helping your company design and implement programs that will increase sales.

Be SMART, not greedy. One of my sales students spoke to me about a special holiday bonus his company had just offered. From November 1st to Thanksgiving, his company was offering to their sales staff a $1000 bonus on the next five NEW clients for that time period, along with other great sales incentives. We strategized about the bonuses and came up with the idea of passing along the $1000 bonus to his clients as a referral fee. He immediately contacted all his clients by phone and e-mail, announcing his special $1000 "new client bonus" for referrals given to him during that time period. If he gets a new client from his $1000 offering - great, he passes that along to a very HAPPY existing client. If he gets more and qualifies for additional bonuses, then watch out holiday shopping list and savings account.
Know that "focus" and "sales tenacity" are your best holiday "sales" friends.

Find the ways to do correct sales activity versus finding the ways not to do it.

People are HOME during the holiday season. Maybe they do not want to talk or have a meeting - let your clients decide that, not you. You'll have to ASK to find out!

Many of you sell products that your clients can take advantage of year-end tax deductions. You should capitalize on that.

Many people spend the end of the year reflecting on needs and challenges they experienced during the year. Maybe your product or service could take care of that need.

Take personal responsibility for finishing your sales year with a strong effort.

Many industries have record sales from December 26th to December 31st, including the automobile and financial planning arenas. Why not you?

Answer your own "Why should I work SMART during the holidays?" This relates back to your own personal and professional goals. Revisit your personal income goal for this year. Are you on target? If so, GREAT! If not, you'd better get busy, the end of the year is almost here. Don't have a written yearly personal income goal and action plan that will help you achieve it? Then you'd better get one in place for next year - only if you are serious about your personal sales success. If you do not have a format to follow, e-mail me and I will send you, at no cost, the Chuck Bauer GoalMastery Action Plan form that will help you get on track!

If you are a sales manager, consider special incentives or awards (like the incentive program already mentioned) - salespeople are looking for a way to supplement their holiday expenditures. These special programs should always run through January. Conduct special Holiday Goal Setting Sessions or book me for a one day GoalMastery Program. As always, make sure the goals are written, published, and accountability is placed into your program.

Work on having a Positive Seasonal Attitude – which helps rid yourself of the “What’s The Use Attitude.” Some sales people do not see themselves as being able to make many sales during the holiday season. If they do make a sale or two, they just might think it was due to luck. When they don’t make sales, they feel badly, they may feel that someone is out to get them; or attribute their lack of sales to bad luck. Or, they may spend their valuable sales time reflecting on why some sales people are lucky and they are not. Stop majoring in the minors and start Majoring in the MAJORS!

Interested in specific sales coaching? Check out my STP or my ESP Programs!

Last but not least, when it's time to relax and enjoy the fruits of your Holiday Labors, enjoy! At least you will know that you placed a major effort in having a great Holiday Sales period. Allow your sale momentum that you focused on during the holidays carry you over to a great sales start for the next year.

Before the year ends, Commit to Solving Your Sales Slump by implementing some of the sales strategies listed above. Instead of a Seasonal Sales Melt Down, have your best December ever by using my effective sales strategies----and not just for this December, but for all Holiday Seasons in your future. Solid sales figures are not impossible this time of year; they simply require choice, commitment and completion.

Good Luck, Happy Holidays and Good Selling!

Chuck Bauer

About the Author - With over two decades of sales experience, Chuck Bauer is one of North America's most experienced sales coaches, consultants and workshop leaders. Chuck consults to a large number of sales organizations and salespeople nationwide and is a member of the National Speakers Association. His information is widely published in many print and internet based publications. He is a committed body builder, private pilot and trophy bass hunter. Find out more about Chuck at chuckbauer.com