“It’s you. Your ability to manage yourself, to exert self-discipline, spells the difference between success and failure and in sales. Let me rephrase that: self-discipline is the difference between success and failure. Yes, there are a lot of other components of the salesperson’s mind-set. skill set. and took kit, but without strong self-discipline, those don’t matter one whit.”[note]Page 15[/note]
Anthony Iannarino does an incredible job painting a visual of what it takes to be a successful sales person. “Me Management” is a term that he coined and I think it is very worthy of an Ah-Ha Moment! You’re responsible for you own success; you’re in charge of your day to day actions; and you must have the self-discipline to do the things you don’t want to do because you know you’re going to achieve that success. It’s SO easy to get off track and do something else… we live in the digital age.
We all know what we need to do… but do we actually commit to it and follow through with it?! That’s a question you have to ask yourself. In the sales world, prospecting is one of those things that sales professionals have to continuously do! If they don’t, their pipeline is going to dry up. Self-discipline is EXTREMELY important in every aspect of life… not just sales.
“In short, willpower, fortitude, and accountability lead to self-discipline. And self-discipline gives you the wherewithal to be honest, act courageously and with integrity, and delay gratification for better returns later.”[note]Page 20/21[/note]
Willpower is the ability to follow through with something – Fortitude is taking something painful head on… often times calling an upset client – And Accountability is taking responsibility for your actions or the results of your actions. Willpower helps you develop mental strength and toughness. It helps you fight through fatigue or gets you past the “I don’t want to do that right” moment. If you’re on a diet and you tell yourself that you’re going to stop drinking soda… Have the willpower to not drink the soda. If you get side tracked because your email is always open… Commit to only checking your emails at certain times… Have the willpower to not look at emails until that time!
Fortitude is always tough because it’s often the most painful. Calling the upset client to let them you know messed up… Telling your boss something bad happened… We often make the negative outcome out larger than it actually is. I try and look at it this way… The honesty you’re about the share with the person/team you’re talking to will respect you greater for facing the issue head on. Look at the silver lining rather than focusing on how you let them down. Own up to it… learn from it… and move on!
Accountability is simple! If you say you’re going to do something, do it! Take responsibility for your actions and the results of your actions.
Optimism is one of my favorite words! Not enough people have it! You’ve got to have optimism as a sale professional!
“Optimism allows you to perform powerfully and consistently in a coordinated manner over the long run. Optimism ensures that you’ll stay focused on your task, despite the lows that inevitably follow some of the highs.”[note]Page 29[/note]
#BAM! Day in and day out, you’ve got to be optimistic! There’s absolutely no room in the sales world for pessimistic sales pros. Would you want to buy something from someone that was pessimistic? Heck no! For every phone call you make, email you write, door you knock on and ever thank you card you send; you should feel 100% confident that the prospect/client is going to return your call.
I’ve been optimistic my entire life and it feels good to say that. Everyday is a new day and I’m going to continue doing what I’m doing because I know it’s working. Roughly 3 months ago I hit a brick wall… my optimism was starting to crack a little because I had so many opportunities on the fence and I had just lost a large one I thought I had… I kept doing the right things but nothing would budge… Then, out of the blue, everything came together! It was a nice reminder 🙂
If I had to look back at why I became a little pessimistic; I could bet it was because of the news I was following. I was tuned into the news for two hours a day and stopped listening to my podcasts. Surround yourself with negativity and guess where your brain goes! I challenge you;
“For the next thirty days, do not watch, listen to, or read the news. Avoid negative and sensationalized media. Ignore all gossip about misbehaving reality stars and their ilk; there is nothing positive there. Avoid all negative people whenever possible. Refuse to say anything negative or engage in conversations with a negative slant. Think only positive thoughts. If a negative thought enters your mind, replace it with a positive on immediately.”[note] Page 38/39[/note]
I’m doing it… and I dare you to do the same thing. Take accountability for your own thought process and use your willpower to only have positive thoughts. There’s no point to go through life with negative thoughts anyways. There’s enough negative crap taking place in the world as is… Be positive, put a smile on your face and encourage optimism.
Build yourself up, build your peers up and be happy! 🙂
There’s more from me to come:
The Only Sales Guide You’ll Ever Need by Anthony Iannarino – @iannarino
You’ve got to follow Anthony’s YouTube Channel Everyday!