I’ve decided to write ten consecutive posts during ten consecutive business days, each that will offer an idea that salespeople can implement during this weird time. Manufacturer sales professionals will be challenged with travel bans and system integrators will be challenged with their end-users not choosing to see them or not being there at all. So, what can you do?
Idea #6: Document every positive thing that happens throughout the day.
When I started Vector Firm, I was fighting two demons: the demon of anxiety that worried about failure, and the demon of temptation in the form of opportunities to go back into the workforce. Every day for the first eight or nine months, I thought about returning to the work force; and every day for about four years I worried about failing. Within the same day – heck within the same hour sometimes – I was at the lowest of lows and the highest of highs. Not unlike every other new business, it was a rollercoaster. Except for one time each day. There was one time where I never felt down. One time – the same time every day – that I felt like my idea was going to work…
At the end of every day, I would read a white 8.5” x 11” piece of printer paper that had a long list of scribbled bullet points. It would say things like: Good presentation with Genetec, Steve W. returned my call, and Two likes on my LinkedIn post. Some days that paper was full and some days it wasn’t - but there were always at least ten reminders of positive things that happened that day. It sounds funny, but those lists got me through 2010 – 2014 (especially 2011).
You’re in the middle of a tough time and you don’t have a cheerleading team lifting your spirits. Become your own cheerleader. Write down every positive thing that happens throughout the day on a piece of paper and review it before leaving the office. You didn’t get thrown out of an account? Write it down. A channel partner called about an opportunity? Write it down. You won an order? Write it down. You read a great blog post? Write it down!
