Resilience is the ability to bounce back swiftly from failure and adversity, not just returning to the status quo but also making use of the opportunity to learn and grow.
A high-performing salesperson understands how to accept “no.” They recognize that sales is all about setbacks, the inability to close deals, and missing revenue targets. They have the determination to keep playing regardless of the odds or the number of failures. Any salesperson’s success hinges on their ability to recover quickly after losing a contract and move on.
The pandemic taught us that we had no choice but to demonstrate resilience in times of sheer unpredictability.
Why is resilience important in the workplace?
According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, 25% of all employees consider their employment to be the most stressful issue in their life. We’ve all heard that sales is a high-stress job with a significant chance of burnout. Burnout, as we all know, leads to higher absenteeism and lower productivity as a result of the negative influence on employees.
Being resilient allows you to improve your mental health, enabling you to develop a more positive mindset and gain more control over the difficulties you face. Resilient salespeople are seen to be capable of not just surviving, but even thriving, in the face of adversity. As a result, employers reap the benefits of increased productivity. It’s a win-win situation.
How do sales professionals become resilient?
One good thing is that resilience can be learnt and enhanced over time by anyone. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Similarly, practising resilient behaviours, ideas, and actions can equip you to meet any crisis and emerge even stronger
1. Anticipate failures
One of the most important and basic steps to building resilience in the workplace is to anticipate failures. As a salesperson, you must be willing to take a chance and accept the fact that not every deal will be successful.
2. Manage your Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence is the ability to understand and manage one’s emotions and that of others. Often, we hear that sales is a stressful job especially when salespeople are not able to meet their monthly targets. This whole sales process triggers an emotional experience for both the salesman and customers.
Become more self-aware and consider what you may have done better to prevent the difficulties. After all, failure isn’t a state that lasts forever. Make the mental shift to believe that tomorrow is a new day and that failures are opportunities to perform better the following time. “Every no brings you closer to a yes,” stated billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban.
The customers shouldn’t feel pressured into making a purchase instead as a sales professional, you need to build a solid relationship by actively listening to the client’s needs and giving them time to process and make a decision.
3. Be persistent
Statistics from HubSpot and Forbes show that 50% of sales happen after the 5th call. And on average, it takes between 7 and 10 contacts before a potential buyer becomes a solid lead. Building resilience in the workplace means preparing yourself to make these many contacts.
You need to believe in the power of small steps like reaching the decision-maker, setting up meetings with potential clients and doing presentations. A skilled seller understands that striking gold requires a lot of effort.
4. Ask more strategic questions
Do not let one sales rejection affect your ability to perform on the next. By asking the right questions, you prepare for future scenarios, and you open your mind to different approaches and new opportunities for future sales.
· Who are the decision-makers?
· Was my content/presentation relevant to the needs of the clients?
· When is the best day to prospect?
· What are the right communication channels?
· Have I built trust with the prospects?
· What are the external factors affecting the clients’ decisions?
Here are some valuable sales questions to help you better understand your prospect and shape your solutions to avoid failure:
https://sendoso.com/sales-prospecting/sale-prospecting-questions/
It is important to note that there isn’t just one right answer but having these pieces of data-driven evidence can help you sell smarter and be better than you were yesterday.
Final takeaway
More than ever before, being resilient has become one of the most critical abilities in today’s world. Without it, your sales approach will fail. It’s all about learning to grow through adversity. Salespeople must learn how to bounce back after being knocked down. One advantage is that resiliency can be developed and strengthened over time. Through our Bootcamp workshop, business developers will learn more about managing uncertainty, emotional agility and emotional intelligence.
Written by Karishma Pattoo, Content Specialist at Proactive Talent
