Art Post
For those of us that have been selling copiers for 20-30-plus years (yes, there’s still a few of us around) the month-to-month and then quarter-to-quarter grinding quota cycles can take their toll on your mental toughness.
Yes, there was once a time even for me when I hesitated to make the next cold call on the phone, then praying that someone did not answer the phone when I called, and even turned tail, performing an in person cold call because I was afraid that I would be rejected when I opened the door. I’m sure if I had these feelings that there are many others of us that have also struggled with rejection in our sales careers.
You can’t buy mental toughness and someone can’t teach you mental toughness. Mental toughness is something you earn, and you can earn it in a variety of ways.
In my teens I worked for a ‘family’ produce company in New Jersey. I was the only employee who was not related to the family. It was a learning experience that I’ll never forget. I was hired to lift, sort, and stack trailers and produce racks with produce. Since I was not in the family whenever I thought about doing it my way it turned out to be the wrong way. When I was asked what happened with this or that, I replied, “I thought…blah, blah.”
I was reminded by screaming family members that I was not paid to think. I was paid to do what I was told. At 16-19 years old (I did that job for 3 years) it was my introduction into the world of business. It seemed I was always making mistakes, fouling things up, dropping things or trying to do something that I thought was a better way. I hung in and took my lumps and learned that I was not going to get fired. After some time the screaming was something that I got used to. I learned not to take it personally and to let things go. I earned the mental toughness to stay with the job because I went on with my work after a screaming episode and went back to work the next day.
When I went into copier sales…let me back up a minute, I was actually hired as a technician first. After six months I had my review and the owner of the company gave me outstanding marks on my ability to take copiers apart. To say the least, he was not impressed with the way I put them back together and wanted to lay me off. He did state, that if I wanted to stay on, I could try my hand at sales. I took the sales job and never looked back.
I’ve had those days where every time it seems like everyone is hanging up on you. Or how about the cold calls when the receptionist states, “You’re the fourth copier person that stopped in today.” Better yet, you were told by the owner of the company you cold called to “Get the $%@$ out!” These were all learning experiences that earned me mental toughness and in the long run I learned that there are far worse things that can happen in your life than having someone hang up on you or tell you to get out, and even tell you that we bought from the cute sales person. Yes, we’ve all been thrown out of better places than yours, right? That was a line I would repeat to myself.
The attitude to take forward every day is that I have a great product, an awesome solution, excellent product knowledge, and a great support company. If someone hangs up, doesn’t want to listen, cuts me off or tells me we’re not interested, my attitude turns to ‘that person or company is missing out on the most important thing that I bring to the table,’ which is ME. Then in my own mind I recall a great line my father always stated, “What do you expect from a pig but a grunt,” and with that I’m off to my next phone call or appointment.
Good selling!
