Follow-Up Hack: How To Fight Mental Resistance

The following article is an excerpt from Jeff Shore’s newest book, Follow Up and Close the Sale, coming from McGraw-Hill July 14. Click here to pre-order your copy and unlock Jeff’s exclusive pre-order bonuses.

If you’ve never read the modern masterpiece The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, you are missing out.

Pressfield introduces us to Resistance, an invisible but incredibly powerful force that stands in the way of productivity and accomplishment.

Resistance is not a peripheral opponent. Resistance arises from within. It is self-generated and self- perpetuated. Resistance is the enemy within. – Steven Pressfield

Resistance comes in many forms and goes by many names. Procrastination, fear, lack of confidence, excuses, distractions . . . all are the handiwork of Resistance.

Resistance can be described in a number of ways, but consider its common underpinning. Resistance is a result of our comfort addictions.

I wrote an entire book on this subject (Be Bold and Win the Sale), but here is the short version: We all love to be comfortable, and we are all hardwired to escape discomfort.

Until we learn to manage our comfort addictions, we will forever be at risk of defeat at the hands of Resistance.

Here are a few comfort addictions that pertain directly to salespeople:

• Procrastination: You don’t tend to procrastinate on what you find comfortable. Your favorite team is playing; you watch. It’s discomfort that triggers procrastination.
• Telephobia: This fear affects more salespeople than you think. Many salespeople excel at face-to-face encounters but struggle when it comes to making phone calls. So they don’t. That’s a comfort addiction.
• Objections: The customer raises a concern over a value issue or about a negative online review or something to do with product specifications. How you respond to—or choose to avoid—the objection indicates the degree of comfort addiction.
• Fear of closing: For many salespeople it’s not the lack of a good closing line; those are a dime a dozen. It’s the confidence, the mindset, the conviction that are often lacking.
• Discomfort over follow-up: Which is, basically, why I wrote the book.

Of course, not all salespeople carry all of these comfort addictions, and the degree to which they struggle will vary greatly.

But it is safe to say that we all struggle with a comfort addiction of some kind.

I would encourage you to pick up a copy of Be Bold and Win the Sale for a thorough discussion on comfort addictions.

I can promise you this: the bold life is satisfying, rewarding, and just plain fun!

If you want to be successful, it begins with understanding that Resistance is a mental construct inside your own brain.

You must take control of your own mental approach. Here is the good news: You can.

You get to choose your own mindset. Resistance is an enemy that is only as strong as you will allow it to be.

You have the choice to be better and stronger than Resistance, and the choice is yours alone.