Cold calling in the New Year

You may have noticed RECEIVING more sales cold calls early in the New Year than you do the rest of the year?

Why?

Sales people are mentally rested and "re-energized", and thus up to prospecting (for now).

Similar to the many health and fitness goals we aspire to do in the New Year, many people simply give up too early and too soon. Most people are off the treadmill and health goals by mid February and most salespeople have dropped the cold calls around the same time.

Discipline is like a muscle, it tires and has a limited capacity before needing rest. It also can atrophy when not used for a long time. It takes a long time to rebuild it.

You can only apply your discipline muscle in a couple areas at a time, else you will not achieve any of the new habits. Change one HABIT / DISCIPLINE per month you will change 12 per year. That's a new person.

Even when rested, if you WAIT for an attitude to feel like prospecting, little growth will occur.

So, what is the conversation you have with yourself about prospecting to find potential new clients? Have you convinced yourself you don't have to call to make the revenue goals you have set for yourself? Have you concluded that new clients will mysteriously surprise you by calling and asking for your products or services? Have you allowed yourself to be convinced that a better brochure or a faster website will produce all the clients you need? Have you allowed yourself to settle for mediocrity when you know you could be excellent?

Self-discipline is simply self-direction toward a particular goal. And the fact is, self-discipline directed toward a goal we are genuinely motivated to achieve is not especially difficult to achieve, if we recognize in advance that struggle is necessary for any worthwhile goal. Where motivation is genuine but self-discipline nevertheless seems to falter, the reason is probably not lack of willpower or nerve, or any other terms we use to punish ourselves and sustain self-hate. Instead, the chances are strong that self-sabotage is taking place.

If discipline fails but we are convinced that the desire to achieve our goal is genuine, we will be wise to ask whether we may not be unwittingly subverting our aims and desires. We need to explore honestly and courageously what specific thoughts or patterns of behavior may be undermining motivation and discipline and, above all, ask why this seems to be occurring.

Self-discipline and motivation can only come from within. They can be aided by support from others, but they must be supported above all by self-knowledge and the desire to achieve our goals.

Doing Behavior WILL LEAD TO A BETTER ATTITUDE. It's not how you feel that determines how you act, its how you act that determines how you feel.

Copyright 2013 Sandler Training and Insight Sales Consulting Inc. All rights reserved.

John Glennon is the owner of Insight Sales Consulting Inc, the authorized Sandler Training Licensee for the Interior of British Columbia. He can be reached at [email protected], toll free at 1-866-645-2047 or visit www.glennon.sandler.com

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.