3 Tips for Surviving Your Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Sales Day
We all have them – the infamous sales days that go disastrously wrong from the minute we open our eyes in the morning and, instead of mercifully improving as we trudge along, the torture seems only to worsen as the day drags on.
We flub the big deal we were counting on landing to make our monthly sales goal, then we accidentally offend a buyer with a stupid comment that flies out of our mouth before we consider what we were saying and finally, to top of the day, we blow our presentation in the sales meeting in front of our entire sales team and so on, and so on until we are questioning why we ever got into sales in the first place.
Ever had one of those days?
Maybe you’re enjoying one this very day.
In that case, work on these three tips…
1. Give Yourself a Timeout
Step away. Disengage. Take a mental or (if possible) a physical break. Go for a walk. Go out to lunch. Call a friend.
Do anything that disengages your brain from your job – even if it is only for ten minutes.
Part of what is happening when we are having a bad day is that at each pitfall we are experiencing a chemical change in our brains with the release of cortisol and adrenaline that is making it difficult to continue to work with clarity.
Allowing yourself to grab a breather will give your brain a chance to normalize and catch-up.
2. Define Your Purpose
After your timeout reprieve, come back and reassess where you should focus your energy and attention.
I am a huge Stephen Covey fan, and I often find myself chanting his words of wisdom like personal mantras. One of my favorites is “The main thing is the keep the main thing the main thing.”
So I ask you to consider, when you are working, what is your main thing?
It might sound silly to ask a sales professional what is their main thing when the answer is seemingly obvious – it is to sell whatever my company is asking me to sell, right?! But the question itself brings clarity to your activities.
Are the activities with which you are expending both substantial mental and physical energy bringing you more or preserving the sales you’ve already made?
If not, stop!
Take time to define your purpose then use your purpose to define what activities are worthy or your attention.
3. Remember to Celebrate Success
On bad days it’s easy to get down on ourselves.
On really bad days we may experience feelings of fear, self-doubt, guilt or even stronger feelings of disgust or worthlessness.
To combat these feelings — not only on our bad days but to give yourself an extra boost on good days as well — take time to notice and celebrate your successes – to recognize them yourself and share them with others.
Celebrating your successes gives you a healthy perspective by showing you that, while you may encounter set-backs, you can also feel proud about your many accomplishments.
