11 years ago, my life changed forever.
In July 2013, my tenure as Head of School was already over.
But my new career was very much an unknown.
And, if I'm being honest, I was scared.
Call reluctance is a common challenge that plagues many salespeople, from novices to seasoned professionals. It's the hesitation or fear that creeps in when it's time to pick up the phone and reach out to potential customers. This reluctance can significantly impact a salesperson's performance, career progression, and overall success in the field.
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When I talk with professionals about sales training, I often get a response like “Yeah, but I’m not in sales!” My response is that while they don't have an explicit sales-related title, most professionals engage in some form of sales. This concept is often referred to as "non-sales selling" or "invisible selling."
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I'm currently listening to Jia Jiang's Rejection Proof.
It's a powerful story about how the author's personal fear of rejection and desire to please others created an unintentional international movement to help people overcome rejection and get more out of life and their careers.
Which is one of the areas that I will be focusing on in my upcoming webinar training, "Overcoming Call Reluctance."
I recently talked to a staffing agency about the importance of being gritty.
Grit is about tenacity, resilience, and a willingness to keep pushing through despite obstacles and our own natural inclination to take the easy way out.
Staffing recruiters, like most salespeople (and who isn't in sales?) need to be gritty in the face of rejection, radio silence, ghosting, and, even worse, angry clients.
It's what allows them to meet more people, make more referrals, and close more deals.
And live up to their mission of improving the lives of employers and employees by making the connections that grow businesses and provide opportunities (not their exact mission, but my take)
Too many new leaders also “have it all wrong,” at least in terms of how they view their new roles. They think of leadership as the next step in their ascent, one that represents an increase in responsibility and authority but not one that necessarily demands change in their core thinking and approaches. In truth, to assume a leadership post is to enter into a whole new professional arena.
Before assuming this new position, accomplishment was all about you and your performance. You worked hard to achieve success and hoped that you would get noticed and promoted. Time and effort were invested in self-promotion, with the understanding that your success would translate into the next step that you desired. Once you become a leader, however, achievement is measured by your ability to grow others, to make the people who work for you more capable and more confident. The game is no longer about you winning. It’s your team that must win for your term as leader to be deemed a success.
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New sales leaders face a unique challenge. They rise from the ranks of top salespeople — the ones making the sales — to then be the one who must coach others to close more sales. They also pivot from being part of a group — often having five to 50 peers — to a more rarified air with fewer peers and no same-level colleagues to lean on.
Often, this shift occurs with little-to-no formal training, with the only insight on proper protocol being that which the previous leader did or failed to do. From metrics to staffing to accountability, the upwards move to sales leader is unlike anything these sales professionals have ever done.
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New sales leaders face a unique challenge. They rise from the ranks of top salespeople — the ones making the sales — to then be the one who must coach others to close more sales. They also pivot from being part of a group — often having five to 50 peers — to a more rarified air with fewer peers and no same-level colleagues to lean on.
Often, this shift occurs with little-to-no formal training, with the only insight on proper protocol being that which the previous leader did or failed to do. From metrics to staffing to accountability, the upwards move to sales leader is unlike anything these sales professionals have ever done.
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I recently went to Chicago where I was able to hook up with some really great people. We talked about where each of us is professionally, how we can help each other, and I even did some basic coaching as well.
This Thursday I have some more meetings scheduled in NYC, all with folks who have appeared on my podcast.
These are not just regular sit downs. Rather, they are with awesome people that I want to get to know better and either coach, collaborate with, and/or get referrals from.
For me, every meeting has to serve a purpose. It could be a total waste of time for one or both of us to meet without an agenda or underlying goal.
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