Personal Motivation

Grant:Tony, I think one of the things that people struggle with in sales … not necessarily salespeople, it could be business owners as well … is when, for whatever reason, they’re not quite doing the deals.

Tony: Yeah.

Grant: Of course, if you’re going through a couple meetings and perhaps you miss out for whatever reason, how do you then maintain that confidence and motivation so it doesn’t affect you for the next one and the next one because it can become a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, can’t it?

Tony:  Yeah, it can. I think, Grant, it’s how you view it. What I mean by that is, we all as salespeople are going to lose business. That’s part of the course, but rather than view it as, “I lost something,” I like to view it as, “What did I gain, where’s the lesson?”.

That might be a phone call I make where my goal is to turn into an appointment or a meeting where I’m looking to win new business. If I don’t win, it’s something I’d always go back to that prospect and say, “Look, I value your feedback and your opinion. What could I have done differently?”. Normally I would do that in an email because people are a bit embarrassed over the phone or face to face to give their real feedback, so I’ve designed a template; The subject line is “Your valued thoughts and opinions” and it’s crafted saying, “I’m always looking to develop and improve as a person, so I really value your honest feedback and I don’t take any offense of what I could do differently.” Sometimes, actually, I have won business on the back of that.

So, to answer your question, I don’t often get down as a salesperson because to me, I normally get feedback. If I do lose a deal, it’s “What have I gained from that?” which I know has made me stronger as a salesperson. But equally, if I’m having a bad week for whatever reason, it might not be related to sales, I remind myself of my goals. Also, I look at a list I’ve created called “shifters”. “Shifters” are ultimately … I read that in a book called ‘The Secret’ and it’s about writing a list of things that for you are not necessarily just your drivers, but put you in a great place.

The top of my list, obviously, my children. Now, I have a list of them and I look at those and it actually shifts my mindset back into a positive place. If I am having a low moment or a low day, I’d look at those shifters and put myself back on course really.

Grant: It’s interesting, so you’re talking about sort of managing your state a bit by using those kinds of motivators to take you somewhere else. So let’s say you manage that state so you’re somewhere else and you may even be learning lessons. How do you create confidence?

Even if you don’t get depressed from the lack of the sale, that’s quite different from not feeling confident when you go in and of course that can affect your performance as well. How do you maintain your level of confidence going into the next meaning?

Tony: I read a book, I can’t remember the name, where football managers normally hold their motivational talks in the trophy room. The reason I believe they do that is you’re surrounded by success. So to me, if I do have a dip because I’ve lot a couple of deals in a row, to not allow it to affect my confidence I will look back at previous success.

After 19 years of selling, I’ve had some great months, great years. I’ll look back, and I keep a note of every deal I’ve ever won, so I look back at that just to remind myself that I am good at what I do and get that belief back. They say you’re only as good as your last deal. I don’t believe that. I think the truth is if you’ve had continuous success and then a natural loss, I take a lesson from it and I look back at some really wonderful deals that I’ve won to remind myself that I’m as good as I believe I am.

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