Is This a Tough Time to be a New Sales Rep?

Maybe not!  Maybe it’s the best time!

Just think of the freedom a brand new sales person would have!

What kind of freedom?

Freedom from all the old habits that are so hard to change.
Freedom from the “way we used to do it!”
Freedom from the “good old days” when everybody was buying without resistance.
Freedom from spending all their time complaining about the economy.
Freedom from griping about how the company can’t get it right.
Freedom from fighting with management.
Freedom from being over confident resulting in a false sense of security.

They have freedom from the preconceived limitations that are found in most of the established territories.

A brand new sales person doesn’t know that you have to work twice as hard to make the same sales as we did a few years ago.  They just figure that putting in a 60 hour week is what it takes.  A brand new sales person wouldn’t be seeing all the limitations, they would be seeing all the the opportunity, the possibilities and the chance to be of real service to their customers.

Give me an hour with a brand new sales person and I will have them so excited about selling they will be like a race horse at the gate waiting for the bell to go off.  They have a clean slate.  They don’t have to be un-trained before they can be re-trained.

They would also have freedom from boredom, worry and fear.  These negative feelings would be replaced with enthusiasm, excitement and positive expectations about the future.

A new sales person would have freedom from the the dread of “yet, another sales meeting.”  Instead they would be excited about what they were going to learn.  They would be full of curiosity, filled with questions and hungry for new ideas they could take to their customers.  You remember the feeling, don’t you?

A few years ago I was asked to come in and evaluate a sales training program a company was conducting.  The training was an entire week long, yet their sales were flat.  At the end of the week I felt the training was excellent.  The only problem was the instructor kept saying that if you make 2 sales per week you will do fine.  I suggested that they make one change.

Replace the “2 sales a week” to “4 sales a week” and see what happens.  You guessed it.  The new sales people were outperforming their old ones by 2 to 1!  That’s the power of freedom from previous knowledge and experience.  The freedom from the power of suggestion.  Like the news you watch and the gripe sessions you overhear.  Block them out.  Don’t listen.  Don’t participate.

And if you are the one conducting the gripe session here’s some advice for you.  Here’s what your colleagues are too polite to tell you.  If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.  Don’t bring everybody else down along with you!  There’s a long line of eager applicants ready and willing to take your place.  Be part of the solution, not the problem.

I’m not suggesting that you replace all your sales people and hire new ones.  Or that you should be replaced with a new sales person.  I am suggesting that you replace all your old habits and beliefs with a new attitude.  A new attitude of excitement about what you do for a living.  The excitement you had when you first started selling.  Stop lamenting about the bad economy.  This is it.  This is the way it is and the way it is going to stay.  So adjust.  Get with the new program.  Appreciate the job you have and give it everything you’ve got.  Show yourself, your family and your company what you are really made of.

Act like today is the first day on a new exciting job!

There used to be an old saying that if you don’t like selling go get a job at the post office.  The post office is in trouble and getting ready to close many locations.  So the post office option is gone.  As a matter of fact, many of the options you may have had a few years ago are gone.  For whatever reason you are where you are.  So step up to the plate.  Stop wishing you were somewhere else doing something different and go for it.

Appreciate your job.  Appreciate your customers.  Appreciate the support of your family and friends.  Appreciate the opportunity you have every morning to go out and help your customers.  Appreciate the money your are making.  Appreciate the benefits and insurance your company is providing.  Appreciate your colleagues who are part of your team making the entire company successful.  Nobody wants to listen to your story of defeat, doom and gloom.  So stop telling it.

Remember, as a sales person or manager, your job is to solve problems.  Start with your own problem, your attitude.  Make it positive.  Start acting like you really mean business.  Put some excitement back in the way you approach your job.  Pick up the pace.  Start smiling again.  Start acting successful.  Then go and help solve your customer’s problems.

All it takes is one person to get it started.  And little by little, the positive attitude, positive ideas, the excitement will spread and solve the huge problem of the economy.  All it takes is one person like you!

– Bob