Faith can move mountains
By Jens Dalgaard, TACK International
The salesperson’s strongest weapon and most dangerous enemy.
'Faith can move mountains' is an adage derived from the New Testament (Matthew 17, Chapter 20). Jesus is telling his friends; with just a little faith they will be able to tell the mountain to move. And it obeys. Nothing will be impossible for them.
A strong concept! But what happens if you do not believe in the matter? Self-fulfilling prophecies are an awesome adversary - not least for us salespeople. We are so good at convincing people – customers, our colleagues and ourselves!. And convincing ourselves of how bad things look is something we often do. For example, how often have you said either of the following? “I was right, we couldn't compete at all on that price' or 'the crisis has stopped everything - nothing is happening.'
An analysis agency discovered that 500,000 Danes are afraid of being fired. Towards the end of the month this fear will be intensified especially for salespeople as they tend to study the sales figures more closely towards the end of the month or quarter than at the start of the month or quarter. Many companies publish sales league tables internally and therefore their salespeople can see where they are in terms of their position in the table and there is nothing worse than looking at the list of names and seeing themselves at or near the bottom of the list! Interestingly enough, the sales profession is one of the very view professions in which people are easily measurable and accountable!
And of course if a salesperson does find that he or she is at the bottom of the list then one of two things can happen: They either give up or pull themselves together and pitch into the work and drive themselves back up to the top of the list. The soft middle course rarely exists.
Use your ability to move mountains positively! The recipe is simple; it is about self-programming and a change in habits.
Believe in it
Believe in yourself. Focus on your previous successes. Is there something you can replicate? When things have gone wrong in the past take the time to analyse why they went wrong and try to come up with options as to how you could have managed the situations differently. Have fun doing this – you will be surprised at how creative you can be and how much fun you can make this! 'Nothing is impossible' is a good saying for a salesperson – try saying this every day and meaning it. Find a good and attentive friend whose only task is to listen to you saying it and believing in it!
Your objectives and your time
Set a goal for everything you do. Tell yourself: I need to make “X” amount of calls per day or I need to send “Y” amount of proposals out this week. Effort = Results so put the effort in now and every day and expect and believe that the results will come at a later stage.
Focus on results
Use the good old 'to do–list' and get an overview of the next day’s activities before you go home. Remove the things not creating positive results and prioritise the things that will create the results now. Analyse your days and get rid of your time-consumers. Remember: You will rarely receive praise for doing other people's work, if you don't do your own!
Use your creativity and that of others
Dedicate time for thinking 'outside of the box'. Ask yourself questions such as “are there other customers I should be working with?” and “do we or can we need to offer something new to our customers?” Use colleagues and friends to find new angles to your daily tasks. The same results are likely to happen again and again, if you just repeat what you always do.
Be fit and feel good
Plan your leisure time. Make sure you spend time with the people you care about you, but do also think of yourself. Eat healthy food, get sleep and take regular exercise. Wow - easier said than done, but just start on a small scale. Take the stairs, skip the chocolate at the petrol station and spend less time in front of the TV.
Faith can move mountains and life’s challenges can be overcome with a little faith and a lot of hard work.
Faith creates winners – are you one of them?
'Faith can move mountains' is an adage derived from the New Testament (Matthew 17, Chapter 20). Jesus is telling his friends; with just a little faith they will be able to tell the mountain to move. And it obeys. Nothing will be impossible for them.
A strong concept! But what happens if you do not believe in the matter? Self-fulfilling prophecies are an awesome adversary - not least for us salespeople. We are so good at convincing people – customers, our colleagues and ourselves!. And convincing ourselves of how bad things look is something we often do. For example, how often have you said either of the following? “I was right, we couldn't compete at all on that price' or 'the crisis has stopped everything - nothing is happening.'
An analysis agency discovered that 500,000 Danes are afraid of being fired. Towards the end of the month this fear will be intensified especially for salespeople as they tend to study the sales figures more closely towards the end of the month or quarter than at the start of the month or quarter. Many companies publish sales league tables internally and therefore their salespeople can see where they are in terms of their position in the table and there is nothing worse than looking at the list of names and seeing themselves at or near the bottom of the list! Interestingly enough, the sales profession is one of the very view professions in which people are easily measurable and accountable!
And of course if a salesperson does find that he or she is at the bottom of the list then one of two things can happen: They either give up or pull themselves together and pitch into the work and drive themselves back up to the top of the list. The soft middle course rarely exists.
Use your ability to move mountains positively! The recipe is simple; it is about self-programming and a change in habits.
Believe in it
Believe in yourself. Focus on your previous successes. Is there something you can replicate? When things have gone wrong in the past take the time to analyse why they went wrong and try to come up with options as to how you could have managed the situations differently. Have fun doing this – you will be surprised at how creative you can be and how much fun you can make this! 'Nothing is impossible' is a good saying for a salesperson – try saying this every day and meaning it. Find a good and attentive friend whose only task is to listen to you saying it and believing in it!
Your objectives and your time
Set a goal for everything you do. Tell yourself: I need to make “X” amount of calls per day or I need to send “Y” amount of proposals out this week. Effort = Results so put the effort in now and every day and expect and believe that the results will come at a later stage.
Focus on results
Use the good old 'to do–list' and get an overview of the next day’s activities before you go home. Remove the things not creating positive results and prioritise the things that will create the results now. Analyse your days and get rid of your time-consumers. Remember: You will rarely receive praise for doing other people's work, if you don't do your own!
Use your creativity and that of others
Dedicate time for thinking 'outside of the box'. Ask yourself questions such as “are there other customers I should be working with?” and “do we or can we need to offer something new to our customers?” Use colleagues and friends to find new angles to your daily tasks. The same results are likely to happen again and again, if you just repeat what you always do.
Be fit and feel good
Plan your leisure time. Make sure you spend time with the people you care about you, but do also think of yourself. Eat healthy food, get sleep and take regular exercise. Wow - easier said than done, but just start on a small scale. Take the stairs, skip the chocolate at the petrol station and spend less time in front of the TV.
Faith can move mountains and life’s challenges can be overcome with a little faith and a lot of hard work.
Faith creates winners – are you one of them?
TACK International A/S
Rosenvængets Allé 25
2100 København Ø
Phone: +45 70 10 12 01
Fax: +45 70 10 12 15
Mail:
CVR: 21 40 09 47
Rosenvængets Allé 25
2100 København Ø
Phone: +45 70 10 12 01
Fax: +45 70 10 12 15
Mail:
CVR: 21 40 09 47