Find your comfort zone
By Mike Riley, MBA

There is a temperate zone of mental comfort that lies between too hot and too cold for every individual. We all want “just right”. In the sales arena, continued success depends, among other things, on finding ones comfort zone, stretching it a bit with goals that slightly exceed the plan, and reaching out to meet them. For the Long term - success depends upon working within your comfort zone. Too much work, too long, too hot, causes too much stress, and can result in burn out. Not enough prospecting or paying attention to your business causes economic stress and eventually causes one to change their mind and look for other avenues of employment. Underachievement and burnout are major causes for dropping out.

Take good care of yourself and your family and respect your prospects, customers, fellow salespersons and associates. On the surface, the environment of sales is a friendly one, filled with good cheer and smiling faces. Underneath, the game can very rewarding or become very serious and stressful if a companies management abuses the sales force with differential treatment of salespersons or customers, and when peers willfully encroach upon your space. I encourage you to remember this: It took the help of others to bring you into the world. Many people assisted in your upbringing to help you get to where you are now. Your success now depends upon your ability to communicate effectively, make and keep friends, work with your peers and develop a following of happy customers.

There are several desirable qualities that you should either already have or strive to attain:

A good attitude is important; be dependable.

Keep your commitments as best you can but avoid making promises, generally, in the business world, there are too many things that can go wrong that are beyond your control

Be self confident – know your strengths and weaknesses; be honest with yourself and others.

Be responsible for your actions and think before you act.  Try to keep personal issues private so as not to affect your business practices.

A professional appearance enhances your image.

Be loyal and follow a code of ethics – Honor your religious commitments; let principles and respect for the law guide you through your business and personal life.

When interacting with people, listen carefully, stay alert and be committed toward serving others.

Yes, you must know enough about the product you are selling to impress your prospect that you are a knowledgeable salesperson with the qualification to talk about it. Just don’t make the mistake of convincing yourself that you are some sort of Guru that can convince a prospect to make a purchase with only a standardized sales presentation that you or the marketing department has prepared.

Always keep in mind to look at the situation from the customers point of view. After all, your success depends upon their decision to purchase from you and your company. You made the decision to spend your valuable selling time on them, but it is their decision to buy that makes a sale.

Successful salespersons realize that the company they represent has enabled them to succeed.

Successful salespersons appreciate all the other unheralded individuals within the company that contributed to their success with products and support.

Successful salespersons greet each new day with the willingness to help others to become successful too.

Your ability to treat others as you would like them to treat you is your judgment call. Internal customers are your co-workers and support personnel, external customers are the people that buy from you. Again, respect them and they will probably respect you too. You will set your sales goals based upon company sales expectations and your ability to forecast your territories product usage. Customers that are willing to provide you with their future product requirements will help to determine your level of comfort.

Unfortunately, there are a few selfish persons out there that will try to take advantage of you. I’m not talking about people that want to negotiate for a better deal. The outcome of healthy negotiation is a mutual benefit that satisfies both sides. I’m talking about selfish, self centered people that just don’t care and will go behind your back to get what they want. They show themselves at times when the exercise of power or money matters and their greed fogs the rational thinking process.

Resistance to a salesperson is a natural reaction, and it is your responsibility to warm them up so that at least they will listen to you and your sales presentation. However, when there is someone in the audience that has a hidden motive, an agenda separate from the prospect that invited you to make a presentation, be on your guard. They have their reasons, may have been a bad experience in past dealings with your company before you came along, they may have a relative that works for a competitive firm; people pick up biases for many reasons. They came for the express purpose of spoiling your presentation or to observe it and then work to invalidate your efforts after you leave with those that they feel showed some favor for your product. If your prospect has not already made you aware of whom to be wary of before hand, they will show themselves to you during your presentation by the type and timing of their questions and comments. They will more than likely ask questions designed to show weakness in your product, service or even your company.

There is a reasonable way to handle these people that want to invalidate your presentation; when they ask a relevant question, acknowledge them, repeat the question so that everybody in the group hears it, and then answer the question. Then turn toward the questioner and ask him, “Does that answer your question, may we proceed? He may have another question, if the questions are relevant to the subject, answer them, you may win him over. If other members to the presentation detect that he is biasing his questions for a different agenda and wasting their time, they will shut him down for you. At any rate, it is important to remain professional at all times, don’t get angry, stay alert and calm.

Sometimes you will get into situations where you find you just can not win, when you reach that point, move on to the next prospect. It’s your spent time, although the sale is not lost until the customer buys from the competition, loses his funds or eliminates the need. The sale is lost when you decide to stop pursuing it.

Ultimately, you will be the one to determine your own comfort level. As for me, my comfort level was best after I made a sale that I knew would benefit my customer.  Yes, I received a benefit too.

 

Copyright C.M. Riley 2005. All rights reserved.