Thread: Overcoming fear of sales activity

Don't let sales calls or meeting scare you. They are the heart of a business. Why do you think people will look at you and think you are just selling a MLM? When you call a prospect, don't you talk about your services? Then you ask for a meeting and when you get there he/she already knows what you are about. What kind of business or service do you offer. If your scared to make the call then pratice on some friends. Cold call them and try a and sell them. Set up a face to face meeting with them as well.

Originally Posted by Kak

I was just wondering how some of you overcome the anxiety of sales activity. There is lots of potential for customers that cold calling and heavy sales activity can open up with my business.

I am scared of the in person sales because most of the time someone will take one look at me and think im a young person involved in some kind of a PMS or MLS and have no real value to offer.

I am sure there is just a barrier I need to break through to be comfortable with it. How have yall dealt with this kind of thing?

Ever hear of the term "The face of the company"? You don't actually have to do the selling yourself if you think you don't naturally have "likability" levels that will match your target market.

Im just going to go for it this afternoon and see what happens. I need to just do it.

Unfortunately in the this email/text/facebook era, face to face selling and business transactions are becoming more and more uncommon. But don't let it intimidate you. If you pick your targets well, then it should be perfectly natural for you to call or stop by simply to get the conversation started.
In my business, if I know a property has 5000 square feet of carpet, it makes perfect sense for me to stop by and say "Do you mind if I ask who's in charge of your floor maintenance program? Can I speak with them for a minute?" At that point I'm just trying to get to the next step, (kind of like dating) which in this case would hopefully be a meeting and the chance to submit a bid.
Don't look at it as trying to "sell" them. You're simply trying to identify their needs and problems, then offer your solution. If you can't solve their problems or add value, move on. Just remember to keep yourself in the drivers seat. They have the problem you are the solution.

I'd recommend any of Stephan Schiffman's books if you need more help.

And don't forget the classic, "some will, some won't, so what. Next!"

If you are trying to push your product on a customer, you have very good reason to be overcome with anxiety. On the other hand if your product/service solves a real need for your prospect, then you are doing them a service and they will gladly buy your product/service. So the approach is the key. Do not try to sell your product. Your goal should be to understand your prospects needs. If they don't really need what you are selling, don't try to sell it. If your product/service is not the best fit and your competition has a better solution, recommend the better solution. In the long run, this approach will prove extremely valuable.

First off, you need the right attitude.

It's all just business and there's not a single thing wrong with cold calling. Companies get this all the time, they're used to it. And they also cold call all the time, trying to sell whatever they're selling.

So it's normal and whoever is in the business and doesn't understand this, it's their problem not yours, just move to the next one.

Let your concern rather be how to hold their attention and get that sale/meeting. Just assume you'll call, as you will - as it's simple. The real problem is getting through "gate keepers", and closing the deal.

Nothing a little practice cannot solve. And try to read a few books on a subject. There is a lot of empty talk, but there are also some neat and useful tricks.

A few books + calling like crazy + forgiving myself for messing up = turned me into a very good salesman. In person, or in writing, however you want. I even started preferring cold calling to emails, as once you master it and "control the game" it's not intimidating no more. Let them fear they won't be able to resist your pitch

Two words: exposure therapy.

The first few (or several) attempts will probably suck. Each time you do it, however, you will suck less and feel less apprehension about it.

In all interactions, I've found the following to be key: expect the other person to respond appropriately. Your expectation affects you in ways you don't consciously control. When you expect a positive interaction, you walk differently, you speak differently, you stand differently. All these things are picked up on by the other person (if you have to talk on the phone, try walking around).

Assuming you accept the previous assertion to be true, Tony Robbins' idea of "motion causes emotion" may be helpful. What does this mean practically? Walk, stand, and act, as if you're already super-successful like you want to be. It will be difficult to be apprehensive and to be controlling your physical body in this way at the same time.

Cheers!

So the thing is that my company does solve a real need and every customer I have loves my company. It is just hard to explain why the customer needs me haha.

I started sending handwritten thank you letters to every customer with 8 business cards in each one. I have had some nice free referrals this way. So when my customers do the talking for me I do really well.

I just come across as a salesman that wants customers to switch providers for his own benefit even though they save an average of about 30 percent.

A large part of stress when giving a presentation is just knowing what to say. To alleviate this part of the stress, get a solid idea of what you are going to say before you pick up the phone or show up in person. Write out a list of potential objections and then have a prepared answer to every aspect of your sales pitch--from asking for an appointment, to objections over your product or your age or whatever. You also want to write out your unique selling points--why should they buy what you are selling? What differentiates you from the other guy? Most of the time a product or service is sold when it solves a problem or adds value--so keep that in mind. For example, I don't really care if your widget company won some sort of award or that your product is 23% better than the competitor--I want to know what it can do for me. Knowing what you want to say, and knowing how to handle potential objections will take off a lot of the pressure. ...Also make sure you LISTEN to what they are asking for or what their objections are and tailor your presentation to address those. Hope that helps.

Originally Posted by Kak

I was just wondering how some of you overcome the anxiety of sales activity. There is lots of potential for customers that cold calling and heavy sales activity can open up with my business.

I am scared of the in person sales because most of the time someone will take one look at me and think im a young person involved in some kind of a PMS or MLS and have no real value to offer.

I am sure there is just a barrier I need to break through to be comfortable with it. How have yall dealt with this kind of thing?

I started my business on cold calls and after 12 years I still to this day have never met any of them face to face due to the nature of my business. I don't make cold calls anymore but I do still "stimulate" my address book when I need to.

Once you speak to a hundred people, you can do it with your eyes closed. Its a simple process.

Greet prospect
Give them a 1-minute "elevator" speech summarizing your product/service
Build some rapport and fine tune it to your problem solving service -- (How long have you been in business? Do you advertise? Do you have an established online presence?)
Encourage then Justify Objections
Close

Speak to every prospect assuming they are buying today.

When people object, strategically question them to dig up the real reason why.

Prospect: I love the car, but I need to think about. Thank you for your time
Me: (Before they get out of their seat) Hold On, I need and want to earn your business, what can I do to earn it today?
Prospect: Maybe lower the interest rate
Me: If I can lower the interest rate, do we have a deal?
Prospect: Yes!

It doesn't always work like that, just a scenario.

lol i can help for the for the low price of 9999999999

just kidding, stop limiting yourself to your comfort zone...

If I was trying to make you get through this I'd have you pitch me over and over and reject you until you stopped taking yourself so serious & let go..

if you have a friend have them do that..

The best salesman and public speakers use fear as FUEL and MOTIVATION. Its almost like combining fear and excitement into a juggernaut force of creativity and excellent communication skills.

My advice would be to: 1. Expand your comfort zone as much as possible and 2. Associate face to face sales with pleasure and excitement.

You feel fear because you associate pain with rejection or criticism. Don't. Rejection is not painful, its quick, short, and can even be pleasurable depending on what new insights you get about yourself or the situation.