As sales professionals we spend a lot of time discussing our technique. How to ask open ended questions, listening to our customers or prospects, how to generate leads etc. However there is one component of sales that is not often examined, the psyche or mental part of sales. We all know that we have to have a "thick skin" and be able to be told no repeatedly throughout our day, but do we know how to persevere and be successful sales professionals?

We've all had a day where we made countless cold calls either via phone or in person and be met will few results. It is easier said than done to "just trudge on" without this having a negative impact on your day. You have to play the mental game of sales with yourself. By this I mean you have to find ways to keep yourself positive and your energy up, because if you walk in that next door or dial that next phone call with a defeated or rejected look on your face or sound in your voice, you've already lost. That gatekeeper is not going to have sympathy for you, their job is to get rid of you, and you've just made it easier for them.

Here are a few suggestions for keeping yourself mentally prepared throughout the day:

1) Start your day off on a positive note: If you have a good regular customer that you can get an order from or just a good regular customer that you can make a follow up call to build rapport and gain more information about who they are and how you can help their business. If you begin on a positive note like this, it makes it much easier to get in a rhythm and easier to make those next cold calls because you have already had something good happen. This is a great confidence booster.

2) Radio: Music is the ultimate escape, a song can take us back to great memories with friends or loved ones. Maybe it's the Slick Rick song you used to rap with a buddy or that song by the Toadies or Zeppelin that you used to rock out to in college. If you are an inside rep, ask your supervisor if it's okay to keep a small radio on your desk, just keep it at a level that is not distracting to others. For you outside reps, turn it up and let it rock! With satellite radio there are a lot of great options out there for whatever genre of music you care to listen to, there are even comedy stations to give you a few laughs throughout your day. I know several outside sales people that swear by satellite radio especially because of it's variety. Even if you're not ready to buck up for satellite radio find

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