During my ninth grade year, I was the starting right tackle on the Jefferson Junior High football team. Unfortunately, I caught a cold and sprained my ankle the second week of practice and fell behind, which impacted my confidence. My ankle wasn’t too bad and healed quickly, and the cold obviously went away. However, my confidence didn’t recover. I seemed to be on a downward spiral – the less confidence I had, the worse I performed; the worse I performed, the less confidence I had. I went from being the starting right tackle with zero competition to possibly losing my job.
One day at lunch, as I was returning my tray, I overheard a few eighth graders talking about me. I heard “Peterson”, so I took my time at the tray conveyor to eavesdrop. A couple of the guys were football players and they were telling a story about a block I made during one of our drills a few weeks earlier. I really laid a hit on one of the guys and they were talking about me like I was Paul Bunyan. Within 10 seconds, I felt like Paul Bunyan. A few weeks of my confidence sliding downward turned around with one comment. I hit the practice field that day with the same vigor and passion that I used to have, and I never lost my starting job that year. All I needed was to hear something positive – just one thing.
Strategy #3 to staying motivated as a sales professional: Call on one current customer every morning.
How did I jump from football to calling on customers? Simple. I was in a slump and needed to be reminded about a win. Sometimes you need to be reminded about a win. Sometimes you need to be in front of someone who is happy with your service. Someone that you’re no longer trying to sell, but simply checking on their satisfaction.
Why should you do this every day? What if I overheard those kids a few weeks earlier? I never would’ve gotten as low as I did. Whether you’re in a slump or not, you need to be reminded on a regular basis about wins. You need to make a friendly call or visit that isn’t going to deliver rejection. Imagine starting out your day dropping in to see a client simply to bring them some coffee and ask how it’s going. Now, imagine doing something similar every single day. Most days it might be a phone call, but that’s ok. BTW, you’ll be shocked how much business you end up getting by simply making this one friendly call a day.
What do you think? Is this a waste of time? What bad outcomes could come of this habit?
