Sales Management Confronts Fear Factor
Point: Reward salespeople for confronting fear and breaking through their comfort zone
According to Objective Management Group, over 94% of tsalespeople affected by some kind of fear that stands in their way of maximizing their potential. The Fear Factor is debilitating. Think of it. Sales people often fear failure, fear talking with “higher ups., fear the looking inept if the prospect asks a tough question, fear of making a decision, fear of not being liked by the prospect, fear of dealing with money. My goodness, the list could go on and on! What can we as sales managers do to help our sales people break through their comfort zone, turning that fear into confidence?
First, we need to help our staff identify their fears. The Objective Management Group’s assessment is a must have tool tool for sales managers committed to helping their sales people break through.
Second: Help them identify a measurable action that will challenge them shift their behavior and doing the uncomfortable.
Third: Reward them for their efforts to stretch.
Case in point: When Lisa was growing up, her father taught her to avoid talking about money, sex, religion and politics in public. In business, we can often get by without taking about sex, religion or politics. But, money is hard to avoid! Especially when it comes to talking about budgets, finding money if it isn’t in the budget, and the cost of not having her solutions. To get to the Next Level in her career, she needed to get unstuck. Even if her conscience told her it was rude to talk about business revenues, margins and cost, she had to overcome it.
Lisa took the second step, viewing this Money Fear as a challenge and deciding on a strategy to help her overcome her problem. The first call of every day, she forced herself to deal with the economic issues, asking,”What are some of the costs associated with this problem we’ve been discussing?” This forced Lisa to overcome her fear of talking about money and at the same time she learned a lot about her prospects’ business. She also started attending a financial management course and reading books on financial management, to increase her comfort level.
Finally, during Lisa’s weekly one-on-one with her sales manager, she reported on how many times she had asked her question, “What are some of the costs associated with this problem we’ve been discussing?” This gave an opportunity for the sales manager to praise her for confronting her fears and breaking through her comfort zone.
Within a few months, Lisa could handle the “money talk” confidently and her sales increased.
What fears do your sales people have? What steps are you taking to help them break though to the Next Level of performance?