Have you ever scrolled through your computer account records or flipped through your file folders while planning your day, and intentionally bypassed a particular account? Did you continue doing the same thing for weeks or months—maybe even longer? If so, you’re not alone.
Many of us can trace this reluctance to fear—fear we’ll get blown off on the phone, fear we’ll sound like Elmer Fudd to this intimidating prospect, fear we won’t know the answers to his or her questions, etc.. And if we do muster up just enough courage to place the call while in this state of mind, our fears can become reality.
In the book “High Performance Sales Training,” authors Lee Boyan & Rosalind Enright discuss a fascinating psychological phenomenon: the more we dwell on what we fear, the more difficult it is to forget it, and the more likely it is to become real negative behavior.
To overcome fear, Austrian psychiatrist Victor Frankl suggests turning fear into a ridiculous, absurd event in the mind. Allow the natural human reaction to absurdities to turn them off completely.
Try this: Take what is hindering your success, and exaggerate it to the extreme. For instance, “I am scared silly of calling the Big Fish Company because my contact, Mr. Mackeral, is actually a demon with supernatural powers. On occasion, he has transformed himself into digital signals, sending himself back through the phone lines, through the headsets of sales reps, into their ears, attacking their brains, turning their minds into useless jelly, leaving their bodies slumped over their desks. In some cases, hours passed before they were discovered.”
Absurdities are so ridiculous the human mind
immediately rejects them. And once we can ridicule our fears, these problems lose their power over us. Harvard psychologist Gordon Allport wrote that people who can figure out a way to laugh at their problems are well on their way to solving them.
So, what’s hindering your ability to excel? Turn your fear into an absurdity, and you’ll find it truly was ridiculous to begin with!
BY ART SOBCZAK
Art Sobczak helps sales pros use the phone to prospect, service and sell more effectively, while eliminating morale-killing “rejection.” He presents public seminars and customizes programs for companies. Art has a number of books and CDs to help sales reps. See free articles and back issues of his weekly e-mailed sales tips at www.BusinessByPhone.com. Also, ask for a free copy of his monthly Telephone Prospecting and Selling Report newsletter by e-mailing ArtS@BusinessByPhone.com or calling (402) 895-9399.