When the deals are not coming through at the end of the month despite your efforts, it’s easy to lose your mojo. When you lose your mojo, you lose perspective and the ability to see clearly. Then all of a sudden, before you know it, your territory is running you, rather than the opposite.
Before you can get back into action you need to get your head on straight, and that alone can create a challenge.
It’s so easy to stay in action mode and be busy; in fact, very often, that’s what we think will clear it all, and while that may be true for some of you, there comes a time when it’s beneficial to take a timeout and assess why it’s happening in the first place. Is it the market, product, or client target group that needs to change? That alone will require adjusting your approach.
When we stay busy and keep pushing through the day, are we really productive?
One of the most common things I see many salespeople not doing is reviewing their business plans regularly.
On the other hand, the most successful salespeople I work with are very focused and intentional in everything they do.
Now how they go about this will be very different. If you’re familiar with CliftonStrengths®, you’ll know that we operate from different strengths perspectives and domains. What that means is that we all have a unique mix of executing, influencing, relationship building, and strategic thinking, which makes how we approach our sales challenges equally unique.
Someone strong in executing will, in all likelihood, create a plan before executing but simultaneously be eager to get into action and just do.
When you’re strong in influencing, on the other hand, you may actually be best served by being out and about just talking to people and networking. While an outsider may judge it as random and unproductive to you, this is how you make things happen.
Connecting with people is important if you have relationship-building talents, your actions come from the heart, and build trust and business from that space.
Lastly, we have the strategic thinking domain, and you need to have some alone time to process and think things through or even dream and visualize what to do next before taking action.
So what do you do to get out of your funk? Here are some ideas to consider:
You’ve heard it before – take some deep breaths – are you?
What I found is that many of us forget to breathe deeply when we’re stressed out and while it may seem like we don’t have the time, even – 2 minutes can shift things. The cool thing with breathing exercises is that you can do it anywhere, even while driving (keeping your eyes open and on the road in that case) or simply pull over and take a 5-minute break.
- Turn off the radio and take in your surroundings
- Take long, deep breaths for 2-5 minutes at your desired pace. This alone can shift your mindset and, at a minimum, make you feel present in your body
- Go ahead and take a deep breath from the top of your head all the way down to the tips of your toes
- Imagine your breath going into the earth and then up to and in through your head all the way down to the tips of your toes
- Repeat this a couple of times while just focusing on your breath
CLICK HERE to listen to a 2-minute guided audio.
Invite a friend or group of friends to meet up for a brainstorming session or simply go for a hike and talk. Go to the beach or out in nature. A movie or a workout does wonders for clearing your mind.
What would be fun for you to do, right now?
