Above and beyond anything else, to be prepared for a productive day in sales, your mind needs to be right. Sales is at its core a profession based on guiding and advising potential customers to make sound, rational and good decisions about their business. If your mindset is off kilter, you can’t successfully help someone else’s mindset.
What does that mean from a practical perspective? What can you do as a sales person to make sure your mind is right when you kick off your day?
First, accept the idea that BEHAVIOR dictates mindset. That’s right, the actions you choose can alter and control your mindset. So on the days where I’m recovering from a bad previous day (today is actually one of those) and on the days that I wake up just not “feeling it”, here’s my list of actions to reset myself and get my mind right.
1) Review the positive. I have a folder in my email filled with emails sent to me by happy customers. I also have numerous recommendations on Linkedin. (the actual written recs, not the worthless clicked endorsements feature). I spend 10-15 minutes reading those to remind myself that what I do matters, and helps people.
2) Get motion going fast. Don’t slow start days and procrastinate because you’re feeling down. The longer you stay in that state, the harder it is to shake. Set yourself 4-5 easy tasks and a reward. This morning, I had 9 emails I really needed to send. I got up 45 mins earlier than usual, skipped my morning workout (doing it this afternoon) and quickly got to cross those emails as DONE, giving me that feeling of accomplishment. Then I rewarded myself by walking the dogs around the block and catching a gorgeous sunrise. Don’t dwell in a bad headspace. Motion creates emotion. Get moving!
3) Plan your work. On these kinds of bad days, it is easy to wander and not get much done. Plan your day in detail. Open your calendar and insert call blocks, meal breaks, work-outs and everything in between. No open calendar times. No sitting on the couch for an unscheduled break that turns into a 3 hour “Love it or List it” binge watch marathon. Lock yourself into a busy day. (alternatively, if you decide to take a mental break day, then take it. Don’t stay half in and half out, because you won’t be efficient and get much done, further fueling the sense of frustration.) If you take the day off, take the day OFF. Go to the movies, out to lunch, the beach, whatever. Just disconnect and recharge your batteries completely)
4) Purge the negative. There are two schools of thought on this, but I subscribe to the one that says that very few bad thoughts survive daylight. So if my negative self-talk is trying to control me on any given day, I pop out a journal and write those bad talk tracks down. The simple act of writing them down often causes my logical brain to see them for what they are…head trash! My inner voice can convince me of things that are not true, but the minute my brain sees them written down, it rejects those things instantly. DO NOT allow your inner voice to say things to you that you wouldn’t accept from a stranger on the street.
Get your mind right, so that you can help your customers get their mind right, and make the right decisions.