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May I be blunt? Talking heads (also known as news reporters) absolutely love to report bad economic news. They even have a little expression that says, “If it bleeds it leads.” These talking heads can make a small downward business trend sound like a tsunami of catastrophic economic news. If we listen too much it can hurt our sales skills. Here’s a sales tip on how to avoid being their victim.

“…it does demonstrate the incredible latitude we have…”

Time for Some Mental Drano
Too many sales professionals have let these talking heads get to them lately. This is the worst time to be diving for cover. “Weathering the storm” is not a good sales strategy right now. It ultimately comes down to what is going on between our ears more than what we’re hearing with our ears. We need to clean out all the economic bad-news-media gunk accumulating in our heads that causes us to retreat. It’s time for some mental Drano to clear out our brain pipes and get us selling again.

Sales Tip from an Island
I know there are a million shoe salesman stories out there but this one hits right where some of us are living right now.

Two shoe salesmen go to an island where no one wears shoes. What follows are their reports to their sales manager.
Shoe Salesman #1: “There is no opportunity on this island. No one wears shoes.”
Shoe Salesman #2: “This island represents an unbelievable opportunity. Not a single person has shoes.”

Sales Tips to Take With Us
All right, I know we’re tired of shoe salesman stories and this one is simplistic. However, it does demonstrate the incredible latitude we have in interpreting our sales environment. I have some uncomplicated, but important, sales tips I want us to remember:

1. Talking heads exaggerate negative economic news.
2. Perceiving our sales environment in a positive way is one of the most important sales skills we have.
3. This is not the time to withdraw; now is the time to stay aggressive, see opportunities that others miss and keep our sales skills strong.

Further reading: Direct Sales Tips: What the media does to ruin your sales career.

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Tags: career

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