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Doubts

Thursday, March 25th, 2010 - 8:12 am - Sales

Danger Keep Out: Quicksand

“Doubt is the beginning, not the end of wisdom”

Any salesman will hit a slump. And they’ll begin to doubt themselves. I’ve done it, you’ve done it, it happens. The difference is what happens next. It is easy to trap yourself in the slump and get into desperation mode. You start to flail about in a panic and look at things you should have done right along the way.

Stop that. It’s the mental equivalent of thrashing in quicksand, you’re just going to get pulled deeper.

Take a breath, step back, and get back to the things that you know work. Back to basics and get things rolling forward.

When that doesn’t work, just like when you’re in quicksand, call for help and have someone throw you a rope.


  • http://tdhurst.com Tyler Hurst

    Chest bump.

  • Stan

    The personality of most sales guys work completely against what you so rightly recommend. We’re programmed to push harder, not step back, and to succeed alone, not to ask for help. I have found it incredibly reviving to step in and help someone else during the well described slump, and in helping someone else, my struggle doesn’t seem nearly as challenging as it might actually be! I may be unusual, but the great confidence and incredible highs from things going right don’t quite add up to the times of challenge. Every major effort I’ve pursued had moments where I thought I sucked as a sales guy. Then some spark occurred, and it went from “this ain’t going to happen” to “oh my gosh this can save the company” in a flash. The business quicksand you describe above is an almost too natural state that every great sales guy I know has entered. Each one of them flailed for a while too…not wanting to admit they were sinking and certainly not wanting to ask for that proverbial branch to be tossed in to help pull them out. Those moments of humility when we ask for help can actually be the catalyst for an incredible new era of success at times too! That’s when it really gets fun!