Overcoming Sales Slumps Using Your F.E.A.R.

Someone once asked Pete Rose, who recorded more base hits than anyone in the history of baseball, how he handled batting slumps. Rose looked quizzically at the person, paused for a moment and proclaimed that anyone performing at his level would consider one bad swing to be a batting slump. The answer was just to step out of the batters box, regroup, and become fully prepared for the next pitch.

Anyone who ever made a living as a salesperson knows what is a sales slump. Not everyone knows how to break out of one.

I attended a sales management conference, many years ago, which featured several nationally famous sales training experts. They all gave rousing, insightful talks aimed at spurring the best out of a sales force. One speaker gave some especially memorable advice. He talked about how he would unfailingly extract himself from the inevitable sales slumps that we all experience.

His contention was that sales slumps were just the result of succumbing to fear (of failure, of rejection, or any other abstract concern). He had devised a system to confront fear head-on and return him to a successful path of sales achievement. It was a very simple system of checks and balances, utilizing the word ‘FEAR’ as an acronym.

‘F’ stood for Faith

If you don’t truly believe you can make the sale, you never will. Refuse to make any sales call where you are unable to visualize yourself walking out with a signed sales agreement. You have to be thoroughly prepared for every sales call. You have to have your game hat on before you grip the doorknob to enter a prospect’s office.

Be ready for any number of situations and rebuffs, just as ballplayers have to be ready for any variety of pitches, some anticipated and some totally unexpected.

Athletes have to be confident that they can handle anything thrown at them. Just as any world class hitter believes in his heart that he would be able to accomplish a specific task each time at bat, so too, does a salesperson. Without faith, a salesperson is doomed at the start.

‘A’ stood for Ambition

This is just as important as faith is in sales. You have to want to make the sale before it will ever happen. Motivation to succeed must come from within, if it is going to mean anything worthwhile. How big your ambition is will ultimately determine the level of success that you can attain.

This means taking full advantage of every sales opportunity that you encounter. It also means ferreting out sales opportunities that are not readily apparent. More often than not, this is accomplished through digging into places and areas not usually frequented by other salespeople. Constantly ask questions about what your customers want and need, then, listen.

Two tactics come to mind. The first can be used at the conclusion of a sales call, when the customer has repeatedly said no to the sale, but has never rejected the value of the product or service that you were offering. After packing up all your sales materials into your briefcase and while at the door exiting out of the customer’s office, thank the prospect for his time and interest in your company. If done with sincerity, a single question, at this point, can possibly turn the tide. “Let me ask you this. You seemed very interested in what I was presenting you. Before I go, can you honestly tell me exactly what it is that made you decide not to go forward with my offer?”

More often than not, the customer will tell you exactly why he didn’t buy, which gives you all the ammunition that you need to overcome his objections and walk away with the sale.

The second tactic, is also very straight-forward. Everyday, after you pack up and are heading home, make one more sales call. That extra sales call, made every day after your selling day is over, will net you enough added income to pay the monthly mortgage or rent. You have to want success, before you can ever achieve it.

‘R’ is for Resourcefulness

Being prepared with product knowledge is essential, but just as important, is finding answers to problems that are presented by customers. Some of these solutions will accumulate with experience, some will be gained by sheer ingenuity. Your product alone may not solve a customer’s immediate need, but if offered in tandem with, for example, a temporary solution that gives instant results to the customer, the ensuing sale will be more rewarding and longer lasting for both your company and the customer. At all times, however, the solutions presented to a customer must be honest, truthful applications of what your company can and will provide.

What happened to ‘E’ in this formula? This sales trainer saved the most important element in his strategy for last.

‘E’ stood for Enthusiasm

This is the juice that flows through the veins of every successful salesperson. It’s the energy that puts everything else in motion. It is contagious. It is mesmerizing. It is powerful. Without it, sales presentations are just a bunch of words; with it they are full of life and can become world changers. Life itself, without enthusiasm, can be very hard, but with it as part of one’s being makes for very enriched living. Can you imagine a sporting event that didn’t include crowds screaming their encouragement to their favorite team? All they are doing is trying to convey their enthusiasm, so that their team will perform at their best.

The sales trainer had a sure fire technique for infusing enthusiasm into anyone. It is self applied, but there is a cautionary warning attached to the application. Every morning, right after you brush your teeth, grab the bathroom sink with both hands, look yourself right in the eye in the mirror and shout at the top of your voice, “Boy, am I enthoooooosiastic!!!!!” Your spouse might think that you’re crazy, but this truly works!