Ms. Marketing: Fear of Failure
Ms. Marketing: Fear of Failure
Dear Ms. Marketing: My biggest fear about sales is failing. Do you have any advice that can help me overcome the failing fear factor?
When you think about our society today, the fear factor is everywhere. There is the fear of gas prices, fear of business closing, fear of losing jobs and it is no wonder that we have a fear of sales. However, I think we have more of a fear of rejection. Rejection can become the pathway to failure.
We live in a world full of negativities which drive the sales process. If you look at the ads today, over half of them are about insurance for your life if you should die, for your house if a storm hits, for your car if you have an accident. All of these put fear in our minds.
Once you have been given this fear, it’s only natural that you also take it with you into the world of sales. In the mist of this, we struggle to find success. Although we may not try to think about failure, we all face it in one form or another. Everyone fails, but how we measure our failure is mostly in our minds. If you can says things like, “I have now learned what not to do” instead of, “I failed” it is a completely different mindset. The status of failure is up to you.
Achieve a level of success that you want for yourself. You will be successful no matter want happens. Set goals not quotas. Quotas are for sales managers to impress other sales managers. Real life is about goals and reaching those goals with a positive attitude.
Time management and knowledge are both important in the sales process. Know what is important now and get that done first. Learn all you can. Knowledge is something no one can take away from you. Find some way to look back at your failure and learn from it. Sometimes the only thing we learn is humility.
People who are at the top of their game didn’t get there overnight. They got there through self determination and lots of hours of hard work. Did they fail? You bet they did. Did they pick themselves up, stop with the pity party and continue on with their journey to success? You bet they did. So, when you learn that no one is going to give you success and you have to earn it everyday, what do you do? You work hard, sell hard and then you will be at the top of your game.
The last and most important part of the failing fear factor is if you have the passion for what you do and believe in what you do then there will be no fear.
As Rosanne Cash said, “The key to change… is to let go of fear.”
