Here's the Ugly Truth: Sales is Work

Here's the truth: sales is work, even for people who love selling and who promote themselves with ease. When I finish a big day of meetings with potential customers, my brain hurts a little, and I feel physically worn out sometimes. Sales is like traveling on an airplane all day. It may be that all you do is sit, but you may be tired by the end of the day if you work diligently. Sales work takes a lot of energy. 

People who want you to build online sales funnels, create email marketing sequences, and adopt their CRM technology will say they make selling easy. I contend that these important tools make selling easier, but it’s still work to think through your flow and set things up. Plus what about the trial and error it takes to tweak your automatic processes until they work like they’re supposed to? Why is it that people never talk about that part of the work? 

If you're not spending enough time selling, you need to take careful look at your habits. You probably don't find it tiring to check email, to brush your teeth and get dressed, or to do anything else that is a matter of routine. When something becomes a habit, it’s no longer tiring but is automated in your brain. Be careful that you are not using your other personal or work habits to avoid the important habit you probably need to improve: regular sales outreach. Here’s what I often see people do to avoid making selling a habit.

First, if you are leaving your sales work for after lunch, that's risky. Many of us lose energy as the day goes on, so you've left your harder work (the work that takes more energy) for later in the day! That’s a habit that works against productivity. Schedule your prospecting work for a time when you have more energy. By prioritizing this work earlier in the day, you will make the task easier to complete.

Next, I recommend Mel Robbins’ book, The Five Second Rule, about how to build the right sales habits and how to break bad ones! She writes, “If you have an impulse to act on a goal, you must physically move within 5 seconds or your brain will kill the idea.” When you recognize a nervous feeling about getting ready to do a revenue generating task (such as calling your sales leads), count backwards from 5 and then do the thing you need to do. The act of counting backwards interrupts those thoughts of procrastination and nerves. (This is called a “pattern interrupt.”) The interruption causes you to redirect your activity, freeing you to work on sales. If counting backwards doesn’t prove meaningful to you, try writing a mantra, a short sentence you can easily memorize and repeat. When you need to get on task, repeat it to yourself in those 5 seconds. One I have used is “It’s my privilege to help others learn to sell better, and companies who work with me see marked improvement.” (This is true!) 

If you are not scheduling regular time for prospecting and account development work on your calendar, you may live in the Land of Good Intentions. This is a lovely place to live for brief amounts of time, but it is actually a mirage. Set regular times on your calendar to do business development, so you don’t stay too long in the mirage. Most of us need to assess our habits and look where we are spending our time, especially when we work from home. If we’re not developing new leads every day, where are you spending your energy?