Excuses why now isn’t a good time to sell

First, allow me to apologize for the time lapse since my last post, I don’t want to bore you with excuses, it’s simply a matter of time and priorities. I recently joined the Sales Management Association that is headquartered here in Atlanta. I attended my first user group meeting last week and I had the opportunity to meet some really great people and am so glad that I have joined this group.  Anyway, it was a breakfast meeting and we had a number of tables in which we had different discussions. One of the tables I sat at was Chris Holmes who is the Sales Excellence Manager at EarthLink Business. We were talking about strategies for jump starting 2013. The discussion rolled around to the fact that we had just finished the presidential election and there was a lot of uncertainty about the economic future and what that would mean for business.

Chris came out with some of the best statements and recommendations I’ve ever heard, so I thought I would share them with you:

1. “Stop watching the news.  Sales people tend to be a little bi-polar (or at least I am) and it only amps up the negative thoughts and emotions.  Stop it now!
2. I am responsible for my own economy, not congress, not the president, not the weather.  ME!  I had my best 2 months in sales while my company’s name was on the front page of the local newspaper informing the public my legacy company was going bankrupt.  That was ME not letting someone else control my thinking.
3. If you are expecting negative results, you’re darn sure going to get them.  You have to win the battle over your mind and BELIEVE.  You have to think at a higher level and rise above the mundane.  Great thoughts, yield great actions, yield great results.
4. Stop worrying about 2013.  January 2^nd should be the exact same as March 19^th, or September 4^th.  They are just days.  The focus needs to be on getting a fast start every single morning.  Then the week, month & year will take care of itself.  No more New Year focus.    Have daily resolutions and goals.  Rewrite them every morning and make a commitment to achieving them.”

Thanks, Chris, that is some great advice that every one of us can benefit from. As we are in the midst of the Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year holiday, I hear a number of people talk about now is not a good time to sell, because everyone is winding down the end of the year, or out shopping. Another excuse not to sell is that you can’t call on people on Monday, because people are always catching up from the weekend and starting the new week, or they are always in meetings on Mondays. Or, from 11:30 till 1:30 is lunch time and you can’t get people during that time. You can’t sell anyone anything after 4:00 PM, because they are wrapping up the day and leaving to go home. Or, one that I heard recently from a friend of mine who is in a country south of the Equator, that they are entering their summer period when people go on vacation and they will be off until about March. Wow, does that mean that business in that country shuts down for the summer? If so, how does their economy survive? I’m not picking on my friend, I’m simply pointing out that there are a lot of reasons why people find that now isn’t a good time to sell.

I like what my friend Chris said about winning the battle over your own mind and BELIEVE. Focus on getting a fast start every single morning and don’t let yourself believe that you can’t do something because if you believe it strong enough, you can’t. I once had a person tell me that whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right!

So, if my friend Chris wound up having some of his best months in sales while his company was going bankrupt, and I’ve had plenty of experiences selling during all of the times that people said no one was buying, then I think that people simply make excuses, because they don’t believe in their heart that they can.

That’s been my experience. What do you have to say? And, by the way, I want to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holiday and a safe and prosperous New Year!

Chuck Carey