Jim Ziegler - What Scares A Salesperson And Why

What Scares A Salesperson And Why

By Jim Ziegler

Call it, "having a nervous breakdown." It's the anxiety that salespeople experience that eventually results in cold sweats, and sometimes, shaking and uncontrollable stammering.

If you don't learn anything else in your career, if you learn this you've learned one of the most important things that you could possibly learn...

Never get emotionally involved in the sale!

Sure, we want to sell the product... but, if we don't get the sale, it's not the end of the world. You are not going to make the sale every single time, no one does.

If the customer senses that you are so emotionally wrapped-up in making the sale, they will work you over harder. Like sharks that smell blood in the water. Never let the customer realize that you want the sale so badly that it's affecting you emotionally.

Learn to think of yourself as an "in-demand" technician. A skilled professional who does exactly the right thing as a reaction to whatever is happening. The reason that you're so calm is that there's nothing that the customer can throw at you that you haven't already considered and rehearsed in your mind.

You're in control at all times.

Salespeople get scared because they are not in control. They are not in control for one of a number of reasons that probably could have been avoided.

The fear of failure is something that afflicts everyone at one time or another. We want to make the sale and now, but the customers are acting as if they may not take the product... That's scary! The worst thing that can happen is that they might not take the deal. That happens!

What you need to consider:

- Have I done everything that I can possibly do to close this deal?
- Have I done my job correctly?
- Have I used all of my sales skills?
- Have I presented the product properly?

Once you've answered "yes" to each of the above questions, that's all there is!

The worst thing that you can do is to reveal to your potential customer that you're desperate. Desperation will blow the deal. There are a great many sales managers that would do well to learn this lesson. No matter how badly you want the deal, you can't let the customer sense it.

Were you properly prepared for the sale? That's the long and short of it.

There is never an excuse for a fully prepared sales professional to be in a position that allows their emotions to get in the way. When you know your job, backwards and forwards, there is nothing that will scare you during the course of a sale.

What scares a salesperson and why:

- Poor preparation for the sale
- Fear of failure/not closing
- Poor self confidence
- Poor sales skills
- Doesn't know the product well enough
- Doesn't know the inventory well enough
- Intimidated by the customer
- Can't handle objections well
- Poor power posture

Jim Ziegler