Top 15 Ways To Stay Motivated In Sales

“Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose–a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.” - Mary Shelley

1. Get Inspired Everyday. Inspiration is one of the best motivators, and it can be found everywhere. Sources of inspiration can include, but are certainly not limited to:sales blogs, sales articles, sales online success stories, sales forums, peers, friends, sales books, and motivational quotes.

2. Hire A Sales Coach. Working one on one with a sales coach has proven to be one of the most effective methods to truly achieve breakthrough sales results. However, be sure to ask these questions of any sales coach you interview before hiring a sales coach.

3. Have Compelling Reasons For Your Actions. Write them down and know your reasons for wanting to achieve your goals and stay motivated. When you clarify why you want to accomplish certain goals, and what it will mean to you to accomplish them, it will help increase your motivation and keep you on track.

4. Be Ready For Negative Self Talk. Become very aware of that inner voice that says you should just quit and give up. One of the most powerful things you can do is to simply raise your awareness and recognize when it is happening. Just by naming the negative self talk alone, it will help you consciously decide what you need to do.

5. Get Back On The Horse If You Fall Off. Don’t beat yourself up if you slip up one day, but make it a rule to get back into your routine the next day. Don’t wait any longer. You don’t need to be perfect all the time, you just need to brush yourself off, and get back on the horse.

6. Visualize Your Sales Goals. Visualize the successful outcome of staying motivated in great detail a few times for 2 minutes each day. Close your eyes, and think about exactly how your successful outcome in sales will feel. Form as clear of a mental picture as you can.

7. Create A Daily Journal For Your Sales Goals. If you can become consistent about writing notes in your journal, it can be a tremendous motivator. You should focus on writing about what you got done that day and how you felt about the things you did or did not do.

8. Get Competitive. Many sales people are driven by competition. Take advantage of this natural drive by using it to fuel your sales goals. Take a look at your peers around you and see where you are ranking on new clients per month, revenue, or appointments set. Aim to be #1, or stay on top, if you are already #1.

9. Make A Public Statement About Your Commitments. Make a statement on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or announce to your friends and family that you are going to achieve a certain sales goal by a certain date. You will get support and accountability automatically with this method.

10. Think Positive. Monitor your thoughts and become more aware of your self-talk. If you hear negative thoughts, notice them, and then choose to replace them with a positive mind-set.

11. Get Started! There will be some days you just don’t feel motivated to complete your sales activities and everything you do will feel like an uphill battle. Instead of focusing on how hard the task is, or how long it will take you to complete it, tell yourself you just have to get started. Many times, getting started is the hardest part. Once you actually start, it is generally not as hard as you thought it would be.

12. Make It Fun. We often put things off because it feels like hard work. Though hard work might be a part of it, the trick is to find what would make it fun for you? If you can add some fun into the process, it will become easier and more enjoyable.

13. Have Some Patience. Many of us expect immediate results, and with that expectation, it can be more challenging to stay motivated when the quick results don’t take place. If you want to run a marathon, you won’t be able to do it overnight and the same thing is true for the sales results you desire. If you don’t see the results you want right away, don’t quit, and keep generating more momentum. Focus on any progress you are making and celebrate the fact that you are sticking to your goal.

14. Break It Down Into Mini Goals. Long-term sales goals can feel overwhelming. After a few weeks, it is possible to loose motivation, because there are still months or even years left to finish the goal. The best thing you can do is break down your goals into mini goals, so you have certain landmarks to reach and chart your progress along the way.

15. Celebrate Your Sales Successes Often and Reward Yourself. Celebrate and reward mini successes as well as long term goals. Consider having some reward set up for each mini goal that you accomplish. A simple process is to create a list of your goals, mini goals, and next to each one, list a reward.

Career Resolutions

Dreaming a Bigger Future

We were all asked as children, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" It's a great question. It lets you take off the shackles of reality and simply dream. As you enter 2010, ask yourself again, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Dreaming was easy and natural when we were children. When I was a kid I never settled on one dream. I was constantly picking new and different futures. After taking a class trip to the local fire hall, I proudly declared I was going to be a fireman when I grew up. Another time my teacher gave me an A for a short story I wrote, and I decided I was going to be an author. I even considered being an architect based on my amazing Lego building skills. Each time I made one of these little declarations, I pictured a new future. It was very liberating.

The older we get the harder it is to dream. The realities of the present squash dreams. It's hard to imagine new and different futures when you are dealing with the pressures of a job, a mortgage, family obligations and a to-do list a mile long. A dream may bubble up, but it's quickly popped when that little voice in the back of our heads says, "that's nice, but ..." After a while many adults stop dreaming altogether.

Dreams are important, especially for a successful career. Dreaming helps us consider our options, and allows us to focus our ambitions and capabilities. For example, you may dream of running your own business one day. As you get into this dream you might consider your leadership style, and the impact you have on your staff and the community. You may dream of the type of company you are running, the services it delivers and the brand it has established. The more you dream of this future the more tangible it becomes.

Elite level athletes use dreaming to propel themselves to greater heights. As the Olympics get closer you will hear many athletes talk of their dreams of winning a gold medal. They can describe in vivid detail the steps they are taking on their journey, and what it will feel like once they achieve their dream. Their dreams are a roadmap for success.

You too can use dreaming to propel your career forward. Take a few moments, and imagine your life five years from today. Where are you? What are you doing? What job do you hold? Why are you doing this job? How much money are you earning? What impact are you having on the company? What impact are you having on the community? Keep asking these questions.

As you dream and ask questions, try to solidify the place you are going, and why it is important for you. At first you may not have a very evolved picture of your five year future. It may feel like one of those childhood dreams like, "I want to be an astronaut." Don't fear. Keep practicing, and the fog will clear.

The next step is to turn your dreams into goals. Pull out your resume, and write in a new section five years from today. Describe the job you are doing, your title, your income, your core responsibilities and your accomplishments. This will give you a roadmap to your goals.

When you know where you are going in five years, you can plan what you will have to do and achieve to get there. For example, some people dream of moving into management and leadership roles. This can be a big career progression from an individual contributor, because it requires different skills and talents to be successful. To move forward into a leadership role consider the experiences you will need to have, and how your current employer can help facilitate the change. You may discover you need to take some courses and training, and maybe even do some community or volunteer work to acquire the necessary talents. If this is your goal, going out and getting the necessary skills will be all worthwhile.

Dreaming is an opportunity to experience a future, whatever it may be, and live in it vicariously. Like an elite athlete you can imagine the destination, and the steps it will take to get there in great detail. This perspective provides purpose for your career, and the actions you take on a daily basis. It's a roadmap for success.