How To Succeed in Sales?

I am always finding ways to relate my personal life to my business career in direct sales. It so happens that I am just crazy enough to get up at 4:30 most days to go to an early morning spin class at my gym. One of the spin instructors really knows how to push us far above the norm, which has intrigued me to pay close attention to what he does.

Interestingly however, the first few times I had class with this particular instructor I did not understand why he had such a following. He plays the music so loud that even with earplugs I find it irritating. On top of that, he plays one heavy metal sounding song after another.

My first assumption was that the majority of his followers must be in their twenties, which was why they could tolerate one LOUD Linkin Park song after another. But as I looked around and got to know people in the class, I discovered that many of them were in their forties and fifties, and several in their sixties. Sure, there are some young twenty year-olds, but they are hardly the majority.

I was not making any headway in understanding his success until one day I noticed just how hard I pushed myself during those loud and wild tunes. Not long after that I realized that unlike other instructors, this instructor never plays a nice mellow tune after one of the high intensity songs. And then the other day I heard him say something that cracked the code for me.

Right after we had worked ourselves silly and were at the point of collapsing, he yelled, “Stay standing and do not let off any resistance – recover while working.”

Recover while working. Recover while working. Do you grasp the power in that phrase?

The reason why this top notch instructor selects groups like Linkin Park (that I now love, by the way), and the reason he plays the music so loud is to keep the class motivated and working, which all coincides with his philosophy to recover while working. The reason I work 25% harder in his class than in any other class is because I always recover while I am working, when I am in his class.

If you are wondering how this tip relates to you and your direct sales business, let me explain.

Just like my spin instructor, the top people in your direct sales organization are getting 25% more from their team members than other leaders in the company. That is why those top producers have million dollar units and/or promote other successful units from their own. And the top people in any company understand the power in taking a break while working.

Oftentimes a direct sales consultant, that makes a few phone calls and secures a booking, gets all excited with that accomplishment, and then to reward herself for that accomplishment, she takes a break from working her business.

If that same consultant understood the power in this sales tip of taking a break while working, she would pick up the phone and call another five potential hostesses, right after she secured that first booking.

At this point you might be wondering, “How can making another five phone calls be equated with taking a break?” I am so glad you wondered.

Firstly, taking a break is more of a mental activity than it is a physical one. For example, the other day when my spin instructor told me to “recover while working,” I let my mind relax, I took a few deep breaths, and before I knew it, I didn’t feel like I was working so hard, even though my heart rate monitor said differently.

Likewise, when you pick up the phone to make another 5 prospecting calls after you have just secured a booking, the pressure is off. No matter what anyone tells you from that point on, you get to end with a success. Mentally you can relax, and therefore, you absolutely can view this as taking a break.

Secondly, taking a break is a subjective decision. What I mean by that is you get decide what “taking a break” looks like. No one else can decide that for you. This may sound crazy to you, but one of the ways I take a break is to make a gourmet meal from the latest Bon Appetit magazine. That may not sound like “taking a break,” but I made a subjective decision a long time ago that it would be, and ever since then, I feel like I am goofing off, when I am making a fancy dinner.

When you make a subjective decision to view the extra five calls that you make everyday as “a well deserved break,” it will amaze you how much you enjoy making them. You will not feel the pressure to make something happen, and consequently, guess what often happens? Yes, often something worth shouting about.

If you are looking for ways to take your business to a new level this year, this is a BIG idea to implement. Find ways to recover while you work, and prepare to be amazed. Firstly, your business starts to grow in wonderful new ways. Secondly, you discover how to relax and enjoy your work. Thirdly, you find out that you are capable of far more than you ever dreamed you were. And that is the best part of recovering while working!