Cold calling can be thrilling, especially when you’re “in the zone” and making deals happen. But if you’re like most mere mortals, you need a little phone sales motivation from time to time. If that’s you, you’ve come to the right place. Today I’m sharing some action-packed tips and tricks to get motivated and STAY motivated for daily dialing.
If you’re a sales leader or manager, you can even print these out as a checklist for your team. Get them laminated and hang one on every wall in the office. These are actionable and guaranteed to make a difference to your bottom line. Some of the motivation techniques are psychological in nature, others are emotional, and some are even physiological.
And they all synergize together to turn you, or your sales team, into well-oiled selling machines. So, without further ado, let’s get into it.
6 Phone Sales Motivation Techniques
Get the Blood Flowing!
I do this 60-second routine before every big sales meeting or cold calling session, and I highly recommend it. Stand up, do arm windmills for 20 seconds, run in place for 20 seconds, then go right into a 20-second power pose with your arms stretched out to your sides, chin up, chest out. Big breath in through your nose. Let it out of your mouth. Now your blood is flowing, your confidence is high, and you’re ready to leave an impression on your prospects.
Positive Self Talk: “I’m Here to Help”
Repeat to yourself over and over: “I belong here, I’m here to help, and I have what it takes.” This spoken affirmation reminds you that sales is all about HELPING people. In fact, you’re not even selling, you’re helping! This game-changing motivation technique will put you light-years ahead of wannabe sales stars. When the going gets tough and you need a pick-me-up, just remember you are making a real difference in the world by dialing that next prospect.
Get 1% Better with Incremental Improvements
A huge de-motivating factor in sales is due to unrealistic goal setting. Instead of saying I want to be 50% more efficient by the end of the month, instead just focus on 1% improvement each day or each week. This is a principle taught by James Clear in his book Atomic Habits. You can get 1% more efficient. You can improve your tonality by 1%. You can get 1% better at overcoming objections. And you can do it over and over and over.
Compounded growth beats lofty changes every time. Big changes don’t stick. Small habits do. So remember the 1% rule. It takes the pressure off of your shoulders and is great for phone sales motivation.
Focus on Actions, not Results
The more you focus on results, the more discouraged you’ll become. But if you focus on sales actions, the results are almost guaranteed to follow. For instance, if your goal is to get that number one coveted spot on the sales team (close more deals than everyone), then you’re at high risk of analysis paralysis (it’s too abstract!). You can easily get stuck there since you haven’t defined the system or actions necessary to propel you to that finish line.
But… if you focus on the actions, say, make 10 or 20 calls this hour. And do that every hour of every day, you can easily become the top producer on your team. In other words, forget the results and instead dial-in a system of success to keep you on track. This motivation principle is similar to the “Get 1% better” principle, but it’s different as it’s your actual roadmap to success.
Embrace the ‘NO’s’ / Gumball Theory
Ever heard of the “Gumball Theory” in sales? It goes like this. Say you have a gumball machine filled with red gumballs and there’s only a handful of green gumballs mixed in. Every time you put a quarter in and turn the dial, you will probably get a red gumball, but you are guaranteed to get a green gumball every now and then.
Well, this is sales. The red gumballs symbolize “NO” from prospects. The green gumballs symbolize “Yes.” All you have to do is keep putting your quarters in and turning the crank, as it were, and your green gumballs will appear. They HAVE to appear. And to keep things exciting, you never know when a green gumball will appear! This principle reminds you to trust the process and that every “No” is one turn-of-the-crank closer to a “Yes.” Don’t worry, I’ll soon write a full article on this concept to really do it justice. It’s huge for phone sales motivation.
RELATED: How To Cultivate a Winning Mindset in Sales
Remember Your “Why”
Does Season 6 Episode 13 mean anything to you? Maybe not. But that’s the critically-acclaimed episode from The Simpsons where Homer puts pictures of Maggie in his office to remember his “Why.” His daughter is the reason why he shows up to work day after day, even when he doesn’t feel like it. He’s working for something (someone!) bigger than himself. In the same way, define your “Why” and hang reminders of it in your workspace. You’ll be surprised how motivating this can be.
Wrapping Up
So there you have it – my six phone sales motivation techniques to get you fired up and dialing all day long.
Sales doesn’t have to be demoralizing. It shouldn’t be demoralizing. If it is, then you’re either doing it wrong, or you could be in the wrong field of work. Sales should be a fun, exciting, white-knuckle good time. If you can stay motivated with the techniques I share above, and you can build off of your momentum, you’ll quickly become a rockstar on your sales team.
Just remember to keep the blood flowing, adopt a positive self-talk routine, focus on 1% improvements and action over results, embrace the “No’s”, and remember your “Why.” Do this and you’ll be surprised where it can take you. So get out and get motivated to cold call. You’ve got this.
Until next time…
Johnny-Lee Reinoso