“What advice would you have for a salesperson in a tough stretch or slump?”
I’ve been asked this question more times than I can count. I’ve been there myself! And so have plenty of other sales professionals.
According to Salesforce's 2024 State of Sales Report, nearly 70 per cent of sales reps don’t expect to meet their quota this year, and 84 per cent missed it last year.
This tells us that traditional strategies are now obsolete. What drove performance before isn’t produce the same results today. Your customer’s expectations have changed, which means you must change, too.
If you see this as an opportunity to stretch your skills and develop new ones, you can quickly overcome this slump and regain your competitive advantage. Here are a few ideas to restore your confidence, evolve your competency, and get excited and inspired about improving again.
Get control of your calendar: First, track how you’re spending your time. How much of it is spent on pure sales activity?
Does your schedule reflect the optimal investment in the highest-yield activities? Plan your day the evening before and set daily targets for achievement.
Audit your processes: In the absence of results, our activity warrants a thorough inspection.
Take a close look at your approach to pre-call planning and follow-ups. What’s working? What isn’t? Where is your opportunity to improve?
The best salespeople are constantly improving and understand that learning never stops. Audit each day at the close to assess your level of impact and momentum to ensure meaningful progress.
Remind yourself of your successes: When your confidence takes a hit, revisit big wins, testimonials, case studies and what has worked in the past.
Remind yourself that you’ve done good work, customers value your contribution, and prospective customers really need your help.
Conduct experiments: When conditions change, so must we. So, try something new!
The goal is not to avoid failure. In fact, you will make mistakes. The feedback and insight will help you iterate forward. If someone in your organisation or industry is having surprising success, ask yourself: what are they doing differently?
Ask for support: Every great sales pro puts in the work; however, we all need feedback, guidance, and mentorship to thrive. Lean into support, training and feedback from your manager and organisation — and ask for it if you aren’t receiving it.
So, this week, shift your mindset to view setbacks as opportunities. Embrace the chance to learn, absorb feedback and set yourself up for the next big breakthrough!
No Complaining Challenge
According to Dr. Travis Bradberry, co-founder of TalentSmart, we complain once a minute during a normal conversation. And the more we complain, the more likely we are to continue complaining.
While a bit of complaining is natural, it’s not inevitable. You can spend the day lamenting every little thing that’s not perfect, or you can move forward and create the better future you desire. With that in mind, I decided to attempt an idea - the No Complaining Challenge.
The challenge is simple: You put a bracelet on your right wrist. Every time you consciously catch yourself complaining (or somebody else on your team does), you switch wrists.
Here are a few ways to consciously show up each day without complaining.
Look for the opportunity: It is common to react to change, adversity, challenges, and circumstances beyond our control. We can be overwhelmed, frustrated, anxious, and even lose control of our emotions.
The improvement is in the ability to pause, reflect and respond intentionally. When I catch myself moving into reaction, I try to consider: “Where's the opportunity? What can I learn from this? How can I grow from this? And how am I going to show up in this moment? It pays to be acutely aware of our presence's impact on others.
Develop rituals and routines: The best way to start managing your time is at the beginning of your day. Create routines, whether exercising, meditating, journaling, reading, spending time with your kids, or organising your day.
If your morning routine is intentional — and positive — it will put you in the right mindset.
Serve others and lift them up: When faced with adversity or less-than-ideal circumstances, one way to redirect yourself from complaining is to look at the opportunity to serve others.
Where can you contribute? It helps to take the attention from yourself and place it where you can make a meaningful difference.
Play from here: Accept the circumstances. Bad things happen, things that aren’t fair, and we make mistakes — complaining changes absolutely nothing. So, feel your emotions and let them go.
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