From the category archives:

Overcoming Setbacks

How Ready Are You To Weather This Storm?

February 25, 2009

As the global and U.S. economies teeter on the brink of God knows what, sales people are losing jobs in growing numbers. And those who haven’t lost their jobs yet are wondering what they’ll do next if the axe falls on them.

It’s a defensive frame of mind. Some portion of your attention is focused on [...]

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Avoid Ruts by Finding Your Groove

January 25, 2009

[This is the eleventh post in a series about how to overcome the setbacks we all face in sales. For the first in the series, click here.]

Establish or Reinforce Productive Habits

Does it sound boring to be a creature of habit?

My cousin Anne would rather be dead. She sees herself as a free spirit. Her family [...]

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What Sales People Can Learn from Frogs And Fruit Flies

January 8, 2009

[This is the tenth post in a series about how to overcome the setbacks we all face in sales. To read the first post, click here.]
My friend Big Joe is enormous. And when he’s stressed out, he gets even bigger.
Joe has grown big on comfort food, and the food that comforts him most is bad [...]

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The Secret to Self Esteem: Have a Short Memory for Your Bad Moments

December 15, 2008

[This is the ninth post in a series about overcoming the setbacks we all face in sales. For the first of the series, click here.]
Our last post left Karl Wallenda and six members of his family after their tragic fall during a high-wire performance of their famous seven-person pyramid. They performed the same feat again [...]

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Pick Yourself Up And Do It Again

December 14, 2008

[This is the eighth in a series of posts about overcoming the setbacks we all face in sales. For the first in the series, click here.]
It was one of the most spectacular and dangerous high-wire acts circus audiences had ever seen. Yet the Wallenda family performed the seven-person pyramid successfully hundreds of times from 1948 [...]

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When You’re Going Through Hell, Keep Moving.

December 13, 2008

[This is the seventh in a series of posts about overcoming setbacks. To see the first, click here.]
When a setback knocks you on your butt, you’ll recover faster if you give yourself a worthwhile goal to pursue. Right away.
The brain is a goal-seeking organ. At a primitive level, it automatically moves you toward the things [...]

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Why You Need to Fail, And How to Handle It When You Do

November 30, 2008

[This is the sixth in a series of posts about how to recover from the setbacks we all face in sales. For the first in the series, click here.]
What the opposite of failure? Most of us would say success.

That’s logical. But what does your own experience say?

Were you ever really good at something the first [...]

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Put Your Trash Talk in the Trash Where It Belongs

November 28, 2008

[This is the fifth in a series of posts about how to overcome the setbacks we all experience in sales. For the first of the series, click here.]
“Damn. My game is really coming apart now. How much worse could it get?
“A lot worse. I’ve sunk lower than this before. Remember the United deal?
“If I don’t [...]

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When You Feel Rotten, It’s a Good Time to Count Your Blessings

November 23, 2008

[This post is the fourth in a series about how to recover from the setbacks we all face in sales. For the first of the series, click here.]

No matter how bad things may seem at the moment, they could always be much worse.
That’s not pessimism. Pessimists expect the worst.
If you imagine something worse than you’ve [...]

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6 Ways to Put Setbacks Behind You

November 21, 2008

[This is the third in a series of posts about getting past the setbacks we all face in sales. For the first, click here.]
Salespeople often say selling is a numbers game. When you’ve had a setback, it may be more useful to think of it as a head game.
This life can be emotionally exhausting [...]

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