We have all been there before. There are only a few days left in the month, and you are hanging by a thread to earn a tier payout or hit a sales quota. That sinking feeling, a sense of foreboding, starts to creep in. The pressure is on and you begin to think, “What if I miss out? Look at all of the money I will lose. I can’t afford to miss that incentive payout.” You think it over and over as you exert more and more self-pressure. You begin to realize and feel failure, and often your fears become reality…a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Next time, when the pressure is on, stay positive and remember the following:

1. You cannot control what the customer is going to do, you can only influence their decision.

Every salesperson can recall what they believed was a perfectly delivered pitch, only to be rebuffed by their prospect. Conversely, think of how frequently you can blow your sales pitch and still get the sale. Always remember you are unable to control how well you sell – only how well you offer. The good news is in the majority of situations, if you consistently offer well, you will sell well. When you are under the gun, focus on the following sales fundamentals:

• Greet and build rapport
• Identify wants and needs
• Offer the product that best meets the customer’s needs
• Answer all questions positively
• Offer ancillary products after the primary product is secure
• No matter what happens, close positively

2. Visualize your desired outcome, not your potential failure.

World-class athletes spend years training their minds to “see” and “claim” victory before they achieve it. What does success look like for you? Visualize yourself achieving the highest level of performance and you will engage the power of your subconscious mind to make it happen. The best time to create these “success imprints” is right before you go to sleep and as soon as you wake up in the morning. Research suggests this is when your subconscious mind is most impressionable.

3. Replace worry with work.

Worry is wasteful and destructive. Instead, spend your time practicing and preparing. Remember, you may be unable to control the results of your sales efforts, but you can control the behaviors that lead to these results. Ready yourself for the day by giving yourself an encouraging pep talk. Keep telling yourself that you are confident, that you will overcome this challenge, and that the results you seek are a given. Arrive early to work and prepare your workstation. Disorganization and arriving late increase your stress levels and make your customers feel uncomfortable. Most of all focus on how your products and/or services help the customers you encounter. Selling for your customer instead of to or at them will put you and your clients at ease, and position you for success.

Chris Brown - Senior Vice President, Frontline Performance Group

In the 10 years I have been with FPG, I have conducted monthly goal setting sessions with thousands of salespeople across numerous industries. One of the key insights I have gained from these sessions is the importance of seeing the potential fruits of your labor before you move forward with achieving your goals.

What do I mean by this? Salespeople need something tangible, something they can visualize, to help them achieve their goals. As a result, when setting goals it is critical that sales leaders ask their frontline employees what they would like to do with the extra incentive money earned when (not if) their sales goals are met. When salespeople are asked this question their answer is often a halfhearted “put it in the bank.” While putting it in the bank sounds and is noble, I have learned that saving more money is simply not compelling enough for the average employee to push through the additional efforts and rejection required to achieve the highest levels of sales performance.

This is because saving more does not elicit emotion. Having an extra $100 in your bank account is nice, but it doesn’t drive behavior consistently – it does not cause acute pain when it isn’t achieved. Conversely, when you are staring at a picture of a sunset on Waikiki Beach, a cherry red Ford Mustang, a pair of deep blue Gucci jeans, or a new home with a swing set and a photo of your children alongside, it hurts when you fail. It sears and it disappoints. But best of all, it angers. This type of pain is a good pain, a valuable pain because it focuses your energies, resolve and concentration to achieve something of worth…and of difficulty.

Salespeople should be encouraged to choose tangible personal rewards as part of the goal setting process, and to use pictures to remind them of their goals. However, as I always tell our clients, make sure the images placed on your refrigerator or in your work space are a true representation of what you desire most – because what you constantly think about, you become.

Albert Einstein said it best, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

What are you imagining?

Chris Brown - Senior Vice President, Frontline Performance Group