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I don’t agree with 100% of what Oprah Winfrey says. However, one thing in particular that she said has never left me. It contains an abundance of implications for sales professionals.

“One of the most puzzling things known to man…”

Oprah’s Ultimate Sales Tip
Fear is an important emotion in sales as I have mentioned several times before in this sales blog. It can limit us and can cripple our sales skills. It can also be our greatest tether in life as well.

What is the opposite of fear? Passion. Oprah believes, “We approach everything in life with either fear or passion. We are afraid of something or we are drawn to it.” We don’t let fear block us from things we are passionate about. When we feel passion, fear is nothing but an annoyance.

Why are We Afraid?
What makes us fearful as sales professionals? Fear of not hitting our sales budget. Fear of incompetent looking sales skills in front of our sales manager. Fear of not appearing sharp and knowledgeable with important decision makers. When it comes to what we are afraid of, we are only limited by our imagination. That is the irony. We create our own fear. The seeds of fear are always sewn by us. Quite literally, we scare ourselves.

Our Most Damaging Fear
I wish I had a dollar every time I’ve heard a sales professional say something like, “Scott, my sales were good last quarter but I’m not sure I can do it again this quarter. I’m just not that good. This won’t last forever.” I could fill this sales blog with dozens of these stories.

One of the most puzzling things known to man is the impostor complex. At just the point we realize great success as sales professionals we can begin to tell ourselves, “I’m doing great, but it’s only a matter of time until someone figures out that I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m just faking it. I don’t deserve this success. It won’t last.”

Thinking we’re a pretender can be an imposing impediment to our success. We fear we’ll be found out. We’re just a stand-in for the real thing. We have trouble accepting our own success while everyone around us is cheering us on. We have a grand case of fear-of-success.

Sales Tips: The Antidote
Fear can’t coexist with passion. Being passionate about our customers, our job and our employer will help silence our fears. Every sales professional has moments of fear. Having a pure love of the sales game - a passion - gives us more power than we realize.

Further reading: Sales Managers and Dysfunctional Work Environments

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Tags: career

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