Calculate Everything

Alligators
Sometimes when you swing your feet over the side of the bed they hit the floor and they're already wet. The water can be deep. But even when it's only shallow there is that dread. You know that you'll soon enough feel those little feet slide across your own. The smaller ones are not dangerous themselves but they're harbingers of the bigger boys beyond. Will this be the day that you meet them face-to-face?

Maybe not. This could turn out to be a day spent on high ground. There are plenty of those days. There is a lot to do. Things go your way. Even the all-bad-news-all- the-time-media-machine and the government threats to punish you for being successful and investing your money wisely have little effect on your good mood. The world is full of promise. Prospects are plentiful. The Big Sale is immanent.

Then again, a cold plunge into the turbid, icy water of self-doubt, broken promises and disappointments could be your fare. There are alligators is this swamp.These are not the primordial beasts of the everglades. No, those can be easily avoided. Ours are animals of the imagination. But they are no less real. Indeed, they are every bit alive and they'll do you real damage if you don't keep your wits about you.

It's a fact that the human brain cannot tell the difference between dreams and reality. It's readily demonstrable that your thoughts can make you ill. Your doubts, fears and insecurities can kill you. You're extra susceptible because of your trade.

One day, maybe recently, maybe long ago, you wandered off the path of normal working adults into the fetid swamp of sales.

Chances are good that your sales career choice was an accident. Sales tends to be a default profession. Few set out early to pursue selling as a vocation: You were good with people so the boss gave you a territory. The money looked easy so you volunteered. You started a business and woke up a salesperson because businesses without revenue are no damn fun.

And the upside is fantastic. Sales really is the world's highest paid profession. On top of that there is no heavy lifting, no dirty clothes, no dangerous industrial machinery. Just the telephone and those darn alligators.

All the obstacles to success in sales are psychological. None are physical. You have to start conversations with people. You have to get them to talk about things that they might not want to tell you. You even have to get them to tell you how much money they have. All is do-able with well-crafted conversation alone.

But prospects lie. They evade. They act like they're more important than you are. In a moment of weakness you might just believe them. Ah, there's the rub. Your beliefs and your craftsmanship had better be strong. If they aren't you'd better fix them fast because...

It's time to take on the alligators.

Mark Fitzgerald, Sales Training Institute, Inc., Tampa, Florida provides this column weekly. Mr. Fitzgerald provides both group and customized sales training for professionals and companies. For more information, please contact him by telephone at 813-831-5555, via email at mark@saleskills.com or visit www.saleskills.com.