Goddess or god: A man or woman of supernatural powers or attributes, a person with great strength, grace and beauty … a sales genius who wins most sales contests unless another co-worker cheats!
You work hard, you’re honest, creative and passionate, and have pretty much conquered any challenge you’ve encountered. You know who you are and what you stand for and even in the difficult times, have found a way to persevere – in everything except the dreaded, FACE-TO-FACE SALE. Such an overwhelming challenge to many, that even abundant confidence gives way to paralyzing fear! And just the mere thought of selling a product or service to someone who did not ask for it literally makes some physically sick.
You’ve even convinced yourself that you just don’t have what it takes and even if you attempted face-to-face sales, it couldn’t possibly be fun or rewarding, and I’m positive that there are hundreds of other reasons you could come up with to justify not even trying it. And, this is what the geeky guys with super-thick eyeglasses and white lab coats call “hiding behind your fears”.
The first step to unleashing YOUR inner sales goddess is acknowledging and looking fear in the eye and then, realizing that conquering your face-to-face sales fears CAN be S-E-X-Y and put more shopping $$ in your pocket.
Sorry – I don’t qualify as a guru on the subject because just like you, I have to face my own fears just to be in the career that I have and even write this monthly column. Five years ago, I threw myself right to the sharks when I accepted a position with Performance Brands that as luck would have it, would require me to do the three things I feared the most over and over and over again: fly on airplanes, speak in public and write A LOT.
If you want to become great at the things that intimidate you the most, dive in & put yourself in situations where you have no choice but to do the very thing you fear.
How can you overcome fear? Burn the boats! This was what the ancient Greeks would do when they voyaged across the sea to battle their enemies. The first thing they would do when they came ashore was burn the boats to the ground, leaving the army with no way out so that victory was their only option. When success and failure are the only options, fear becomes invisible and impossible to hide behind.
If you want to become great at the things that intimidate you the most, force yourself into action by “burning the boats”. In other words, dive in and put yourself in situations where you have no other choice but to do the very thing you fear.
If you have a hard time approaching and presenting products to your salon guests, here are some sure fire ways to get past your fears. First, practice on your family, then your friends and then their friends. Role-play with your co-workers or switch places with the person who does most of the selling – they clean the beds and check people in while your only job is to talk with all the guests. Ask your boss to make you present a product in front of the entire staff daily. Play the “question game” – come up with three or four really interesting tanning questions that you have to ask each guest and each time you chicken out, you have to do something embarrassing in front of your co-workers.
Good luck! Gotta run – hopping on another airplane to fly to another public speaking gig for which I just had to write another 30-minute presentation!
