It's almost the holidays. I’m never going to land any meetings.
It's Friday. No one will answer the phone.
I can't believe the competition has cut their prices. That's it for me; I’ll never be able to win new business.
They gave me the worst sales assistant. No wonder I have no appointments on the calendar.
Any of these sound familiar?
These are the people for whom the proverbial glass is always half empty, who seem to never have a positive thing to share, and whose business they seem to feel is always on the verge of failing. Their complaints resonate loud and clear, and before very long their pronouncements of negativity become their reality.
The truth is, most businesses suffer some form of setback. Yes, I agree, it is difficult to maintain a rosy view of the world in those times. But you can either bellyache about it, or you can go out there and change your reality. Don’t be a complainer!
If business times are tough, if you see your profits eroding and growth stymied, here's what you must do:
Start selling! Right now, this instant, just start selling. Take matters into your own hands and create a new set of circumstances. Change your methods, change your manners, whatever you do, find a new way of making the sale.
If you already network, do it better. If you don't consider networking important to your business development, well, think again. Networking can play a critical role in filling your sales pipeline with new prospects and potential business. Be highly strategic, maintain scrupulous
quantitative and qualitative assessments of your results, re-engineer if need be, and set both short and long term goals for your networking endeavors. There's no mistaking it: networking can change your situation.
How much proactive prospecting do you do each week? Many companies lament their lack of business before recognizing their prospecting methods are the probable cause. Create a prospecting schedule, and remember that if you're not consistently prospecting you will most certainly have a dip of business on the horizon.
Change your attitude. That old “woe is me” approach is not a good one. The people that view a sales downturn with a sense of optimism and positivity are the very people that get past their new business development slump in record time. The more time you waste by complaining the less time you have to take positive actions.
In business as in life, most people prefer to associate with those they like, and will give referrals and generate leads for those very people. Make no mistake about it: no one likes a complainer.
Need I say more?