Mack Powers

I think that it would be fair to say that many sales people, and business people for that matter, are stressed out due to the tough economic conditions that we face.  I have a simple question… would you rather purchase from a stressed out and nervous salesperson or a relaxed and confident salesperson?  If you are the sales person, where do you place yourself on the spectrum?  Are you relaxed or are you stressed out. 

Last week I presented five breakout sessions to a group of Texas state employees on the subject of stress management.  Here are two of the five practical ideas that I presented to them on stress management.  I borrowed several of the ideas from Dale Carnegie’s book How to Stop worrying and Start Living:

1. Identify what you are worrying about
   1. Figure out the worst case scenario
   2. Accept the worst case scenario
   3. Work diligently and calmly to improve upon the worst case scenario that you have already accepted
2. Solve and Decide
   1. Write down what I am worrying about.
   2. Write down what I can do about it.
   3. Decide what to do.
   4. Start immediately to carry out the decision.

Try these out.  A relaxed salesperson will sell more any day, guaranteed!  Here’s to a happy and relaxed selling environment.

The chorus of home on the range is a great one. Almost every one of us knows this song from our youth. “Where seldom is heard a discouraging word, and the skies are not cloudy all day”. The darn cowpoke that wrote this verse never would understand the current economic climate that we are in today… or would he? Was the cowboy who wrote this song someone who had his own share of clouds and discouraging words but chose to focus on the blue skies in lieu of the scattered thunder showers that dotted them? I believe the answer to that question is yes.

Following the lead of this sage old cowpuncher I have committed to the following regarding my attitude about sales and work. The first commitment that I have made is to be realistic and admit that there are some clouds, rain, and lightning. This is a bummer, I know, but instead of getting soaked by the precipitation, I have decided to put on a rain jacket and get back to work. Secondly, I know that there are many individuals who are telling us how bad the economy is, and they have done a marvelous job of that. I agree that there are some very good reasons to be concerned about our economy but there are also as many or more reasons to be excited about the future of our economy. So I have decided to limit the amount of “discouraging words” that I listen to. How many times do I need to hear bad news to get it… Okay, I get it. The economy is bad. For me however, it is time to move on and focus on what I can do which is to create value at my company and then to present that value to the companies that I work with.

Maybe Dr. Brewster M Higley, the surgeon, who penned the lyrics for this song was right. He had tough times like us but he sang about the good ones to remind himself of what he needed to do.  Maybe it’s time to take his prescription and remember the words that he told himself “where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day”.