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What’s Holding You Back from Selling?

There are lots of reasons why sales don’t close. Some salespeople blame the economy. Some blame their bad sales territory. Some salespeople think it’s their customers. Instead of looking elsewhere, why not look at yourself?

It goes on and on. There are some salespeople who think that negotiations with prospects can go on and on without any consequences. They let negotiations drag on endlessly. What’s it costing them? Lots.

I have a very smart mentor who has always told me, "Negotiate to start selling. The more that negotiations drag on means you’re not making any money." He always knew what range of deals he would accept, and once the deal fell into the range, he was good to go. 

Part of your sales process should include knowing what is acceptable to you so you can reach an agreement with a prospect. If you have one price and one price only that you are ready to work with, then you are setting yourself up for endless negotiations until you get to that price. Instead, what’s the range of offers you’ll take? When you get in the range, stop selling and close the deal.

Think like Nike. Procrastination is a big part of selling for some. They can’t make cold calls. It’s too scary so they procrastinate. Writing the proposal is difficult, so they postpone sitting down and writing it. Other obstacles exist that are in their minds and cause all kinds of delays in the sales process.

When I think about procrastination it reminds me of the incredible US Airways Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III who landed his Airbus A320 into the Hudson River when both engines lost power. After Capt. Sullenberger made that extraordinary landing, the plane settled in the water and didn’t break apart. Then he and his copilot turned to each other and almost simultaneously said, "That wasn’t as bad as I thought."

I can almost guarantee you that if you take any task and break it into smaller pieces, upon completion of each task, you will say the same. What fools you into procrastinating is agonizing over the task, not actually doing the task. So just get going on something. Nike was right. Just do it.

Power to your people. There is no other job as emotionally demanding as selling. Why? You get to hear "no," "maybe" (which really means no), "not now," "not yet," and other negative messages in so many different ways. Even the best sales professionals experience, through no fault of their own, cut budgets, project delays, customer promotions, and other experiences which delay or prevent the final sale.

Does it sound depressing? Maybe, but that’s the price you pay for the rewards of selling. You know that selling is tough. That’s why you have to be careful about the people whom you select to surround you.

You need support to sell effectively. Pick for your support team those people who will motivate and encourage you. These supporters are like "people vitamins." They boost your sales performance because they keep you emotionally charged up. They give you compliments. They are positive people who see the good in most situations. They are there to help you when you need it. These people elevate you. Make sure you surround yourself with people like these.

John Burroughs, the naturalist and essayist, once said, "A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else." You want to be successful in sales? Stop looking for someone else to blame for your sales results.