Connie Kadansky

1. Be honest with yourself. Many people are more willing to admit they are alcoholic, than that they are sales call reluctant. Are you getting in front of qualified prospects consistently and comfortably? If not, why not? Many people want to hide and deny their call reluctance. Admitting they are call reluctant is the first step to overcoming the debilitating disease of prospecting.
2. Observe your behavior on the sales call. Call reluctance shows up there, too. What happens when it is time to ask for the business? Do you shy away? Do you hope that if you are nice enough, they will ask to buy?
3. (If you are making all the money you want and meeting your objectives, do not do this exercise!) Write down your self-defeating behaviors. Do you commit to making 50 calls a day and stop at 20? Do you get caught up in busy work so you can avoid prospecting? Do you lose business cards? Do you write a prospect’s name on a sticky note and then misplace it? Do...

One of the greatest coaches of all time is Phil Jackson (Chicago Bulls and L.A. Lakers) –  the “Zen Master.”

What can we learn from a Zen Master?  The first step is to be conscious and aware of your breathing.  When you get ready to prospect, put both feet solidly on the floor, sit up straight and take a deep breath in as you say to yourself  “I am breathing in.”  Then breathe out and say “I am breathing out.”  Just notice the powerful calm that comes over you.

Then say “I am breathing in calm.  I am breathing out confidence.”

Breathing will slow down the...

How do you feel about the world? Do you think it is beautiful? In your mind’s eye do you see the beautiful pictures of the earth from many different angles? Or do you see it as “doomed” and you are losing faith in humanity?

According to Dr. Dr. Wayne Dyer “What you think of yourself is what you think of the world.”

We cannot be pessimistic about the world and optimistic for ourselves.

Want to shake yourself out of the duldrims? Start listing ten (10) people who are you are deeply grateful for right now. Choose one and write one paragraph listing all the reasons why you appreciate them. Send them your paragraph.

It is impossible to have a negative thought that follows with a “positive” emotion. Out there in the selling world, your attitude speaks so loudly your prospects cannot hear what you have to say. Your attitude comes through in your voice, your tone.

Prospects are attracted to optimistic salespeople who are confident. Confidence breeds...

It’s sales trainers and sales managers, according to George Dudley and Shannon Goodson, world-renowned behavioral scientists. Their research shows that some sales trainers and managers actually are contaminating the very people they intend to inspire. They start out on Monday morning and say “get out there and sell, sell, sell, but don’t be like a salesperson.” There are salespeople who are very sad about their production, because they are ashamed of their role. They feel that people reject them because they are salespeople so they try to act like “consultants” or “account managers” in order to disguise their role. They believe that sales is an unacceptable career.

The fact is the prospect knows that the salesperson is a salesperson and often they are okay with it. If you have a strong value proposition and you are calling into a market that you know needs, wants and buys your services, you are serving your prospects to reach out to them.