Making Sense Out of Sales, and Sales Out of Sense

Your sixth sense. Got one? Your intuition, or gut feelings about something. Your sense of selling. Is there such a thing?

Yesterday I heard J.C. Bradford’s Danny Fontana on his syndicated morning radio show, talking about the falling value of the U.S. dollar. He said “The 8th sense is kicking in the sense of fear.”

It occurred to me that there are senses of selling beyond the traditional five (see, smell, touch, hear, taste). I began to make a list of them. Then I found that some conflict with each other. You have to battle for which sense must emerge as the dominant one. Make sense?

Is a sense something you feel just before it happens? Or is it something that you make happen, (will it to happen) by feeling it? Now, that’s something to think about.

You have all these little negative senses running around your mind, getting in the way of the positive ones. The negative senses block your ability to focus on the positive senses — the ones that breed success. I believe that every negative sense has a remedy, and a counterbalancing positive sense to replace it with.

Here are the 9.5 negative senses and their remedies:

The sense of fear — I’m afraid something will go wrong. I’m afraid I won’t make the sale. Remedy: Prepare better and build confidence with wins.
The sense of nervousness - I’m afraid of the other person or the situation. Remedy: Forget business at first, get friendly early. No matter how big or important the sale, if you’re prepared, the nerves will fade quickly.
The sense of rejection — I don’t want to be told “no.” I want to be liked, not rejected. Remedy: Realize they’re not rejecting you. They’re only rejecting the offer you’re making them.
The sense of reluctance — Much is said about reluctance. Little is true. I refer to it as nonsense. Remedy: See the remedy below for procrastination and fear.
The sense of procrastination — I can do it later. There are still two days before the deadline. I don’t really need to do it now. Remedy: Moments of time never return. Once you realize that the competition is not procrastinating, it may be just the bolt-of-lightning-in-the-butt you need to do something about it.
The sense of justification/rationale — Reasons you give to yourself to support why it didn’t happen. Blaming others for bad situations that you created, or could have had more influence on the outcome. Remedy: Start looking to yourself as the cure, rather than to others as the cause.
The sense of doubt — The nagging thought that something will go wrong, something bad is about to happen, or you just won’t be able to succeed. Remedy: When in doubt, get out. Even if it means changing careers.
The sense of uncertainty - Not knowing what will happen next is a real sense of fear, sometimes paranoia. Remedy: Relax! Have faith in the world that, if you go in with good intentions, most things turn out good.
The sense of doom — The sky is falling. Remedy: Stop listening to the media news and talk-show idiots. At last check, the sky was still blue.

9.5 The sense of “I’m unlucky” - Woe is you. Remedy: The harder you work, the luckier you’ll get. Want to have the best lucky streak of your life? Just start working harder than you’ve ever worked.

What are the positive counterbalances of these senses? Read next week’s article. The combination of this and next week will unlock the positive sales force within you. While this may not make much sense (no pun intended) only seeing the first half, it will be an eye opener when combined with next week’s positive senses portion. Stay tuned…

FREE GitBit…

The best list of self-help, sense-altering books available to sales kind, is yours for the asking. Go to www.gitomer.com, click Access GitBit, register if you’re a first time user, and enter the words “Make Sense” in the search box.