If you have managed
salespeople for even
ONE day, you have
probably seen fear.
Whenever we deal
with a profession
that is based upon
more rejection than
acceptance, we are
likely to find
people in it that
are afraid. Some
recent coaching
clients have
demonstrated to me
that there are all
kinds of "sales
fear" and all kinds
of ways to deal with
it.
In my management
career I've had many
sales reps who I
felt were not
motivated,
indifferent or
simply not engaged
in the company
mission. Sometimes I
was right about
them......but more
often than not I was
seeing these reps
mask their fear
about the selling
profession with some
other "veneer".
Being fearful is not
what a salesperson
wants to show to
their
manager.....but
you'd better believe
your customers are
picking up on it.
Here are a few of
the fears that I've
run into;
Fear of Rejection
- This one is
obvious. Quite
frankly I don't
believe anyone can
succeed in sales
long term if they
cannot EMBRACE
rejection. If we
look at each time
someone says "no" as
a learning
experience, we can
quickly decide what
to change the next
time we're in a
similar
situation.....and
get a different
result. As human
beings, we're
programmed to not
want people to say
"no" to us. We feel
more comfortable
when we're accepted
which forces us to
seek out people that
"like" us and are
likely to accept us.
Do you see the trap
a salesperson
fearful of rejection
falls into? They
ONLY call on places
where they are
welcomed and are
likely to get a
"yes". They AVOID
place where they are
likely to get a
"no". Sooner or
later they wear out
their welcome at the
"yes" places and
they begin to say
"no". The
salesperson's group
of "yes" accounts
grows smaller and
smaller until they
have nowhere left to
go to get
acceptance.....then
their performance
plummets and they
leave or get fired
to begin the cycle
again.
Call
Reluctance
- This is a
variation on the
fear of rejection
but goes even
deeper. I've seen
many talented
salespeople who were
simply too afraid to
make a call on a new
account because they
didn't know anyone.
Sometimes the rep is
simply afraid to be
"exposed" in an
account without
knowing anyone and
having to ask
probing questions.
These types of reps
like making "warm"
calls where they
already have a name
or someone has
invited them in.
Cold calling is an
essential part of
learning every sales
territory and cannot
be avoided (whether
in person or by
phone). Other times
the rep is afraid of
looking like they
don't know
everything since
they don't know who
they'll run into in
this new sales call.
"What if I get in
over my head?"
they'll think. One
way to assure not
getting in "over
your head" is to not
make the call...and
many reps take that
route. Can you
imagine a baby just
learning to walk
that was afraid of
looking silly by
falling on it's butt
time after time? If
the baby was so self
conscious about they
way it looked to
other people, it
would NEVER learn to
walk......so too
with the call
reluctant
salesperson.
Fear of
Failure -
This is the primary
fear of most
salespeople. When
we're judged
primarily on the
numbers of sales we
bring in, and those
numbers don't meet
our expected quota,
we are fearful that
we'll lose our job,
lose our territory,
lose our place in
the hierarchy of the
agency. A good
friend of mine (who
is a corporate
coach) wrote once
that worrying (as in
worrying about
failure) is like
praying for what you
DON'T want to
happen. You spend so
much time worrying
about the possible
bad result that all
of your mental
energy goes toward
it....and
practically
guarantees that it
WILL happen. As
sales managers we
need to help our
reps break this
cycle if we expect
them to achieve.
Fear of
Success -
Did I get you on
this one? There are
LOTS of reps who
simply fear success.
Many times the
thought is "if I do
that well this
month, they're going
to expect it EVERY
month". Can you
believe that
thinking? It does go
on.....it's going on
in your agency right
now! Most
salespeople find a
comfort zone of
performance. Many
times its much lower
than their actual
capability simply
because they don't
want to raise the
bar to a level that
they'll have to keep
working at month
after month. If
you're facing this,
you're leaving a lot
of business on the
table every
month....business
you could EASILY get
if you can eliminate
the fear of success.
Other times people
fear success because
of the
responsibility that
goes along with it.
A sales leader on
your team will be
asked for help by
other reps (and
maybe by you?), will
be looked at for
solutions and answer
to other agency
issues and might be
pushed to the
forefront of other
community
activities.
Sometimes
salespeople are
simply too private
to want to engage is
this activity and
limit their
performance so they
can remain in the
background.
So what do we do
when faced with fear
in sales?
One of the most
basic questions to
ask as a manager is
"am I leading my
people TOWARD
something or AWAY
from something?"
If you are leading
(and motivating
them) toward success
then you're on the
right track. You are
showing them
tangible rewards and
opportunities they
can achieve by
overcoming their
fear and working
with them on their
challenges.
If you are leading
people away from
something, then
you're probably
telling them they
could lose their
jobs if performance
doesn't improve,
that their
competition is
taking their
business away from
them or that
compensation might
need to change to
account for the lack
of business.
Answer this
honestly.........which
approach do you
think will work
better? If you stand
next to your reps
and help them face
their fears in a
positive manner,
encouraging them
toward their next
level of success,
then you've built a
partnership with
them. If you stand
in front of them and
place more fear on
top of the fear they
already have, you've
probably built a
culture of fear in
sales that's NEVER
likely to get the
results that either
of you want.
Which kind of sales
department do you
want to run?
I leave you with my
favorite quote of
all time by William
James....
"Do everyday
something you would
rather not, if for
no other reason than
when the hour of
darkness comes, it
will not find you
unprepared"
Help your reps face
their fears
everyday....for once
they do, they cease
to become
fears.....they
simply become
another day in the
life of a homecare
sales professional.
