Salespeople Sell More: Clean Refrigerator and Clean Yourself

If there’s going to be a National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day, doesn’t it make sense if would be around Thanksgiving Day? From November 14th to turkey day, clean out your refrigerator so there is plenty of room for the turkey and all that goes with it! Any holiday time is a time for cleaning the refrigerator. Just as it’s important to have a clean refrigerator, it’s necessary for salespeople to clean up their sales anxieties. Improperly stored anxieties, like stored food in an improperly running refrigerator, can become rancid and even dangerous. Think of your sales anxieties like a refrigerator that needs some cleaning. In order to properly clean your sales refrigerator, follow these simple steps:

1. To properly clean your sales refrigerator, turn the unit off and unplug it. In particular for introverts, when you get too much activity going under stress, or when you just do, do, do and never stop to unwind, you may be setting up your own demise. Take time to engage in activities of reflection, rest and meditation.
2. Clean your sales refrigerator and freezer regularly, and clean up spills immediately. Let’s say you aren’t finding networking successful on one particular day. Or referrals you were given in a networking meeting aren’t really referrals. Or maybe your presentation went array. When you have sales mishaps get over them quickly. A former client calls this, “being in a funk.” Whatever you call it, don’t stay there long.
3. Don’t eat up all those sales leftovers. What are leftovers in sales? There are actually two kinds of sales leftovers: ones that you want to eat up and ones not to eat. The ones not to eat are those that have extra angst from that leftover chatter in your head from a lost sale, or a referral rejection. In particular if you aren’t clear about whom you are serving and what you bring to the table, you will have a bit more rejection because there isn’t a match. Or it could be procrastination and you keep on beating yourself up about it. Get over whatever this spoiling leftover is. Some of this is natural in selling and some of this is your own limiting belief set holding you back. Then what leftovers do you eat? The leftovers to eat are the follow-ups you are ignoring way down there in the refrigerator, namely your schedule. Follow up with anyone who initially expressed interest, with prospects who may have said no, or even prospects who did say no.
4. Clean your sales refrigerator weekly to kill germs that could contaminate foods. Get into a weekly ritual of some kind that helps you to maintain your energy. Fill up and firm up a focus on the positive, a weekly follow-up process, even a weekly networking activity if you like. It’s important to act on your top marketing activities at a minimum weekly. Daily is better, but weekly will keep your sales pipeline full.
5. Clean your refrigerator’s coils and air intake grill every 3 months. Whether introvert or extrovert, myself included, most salespeople don’t stop to celebrate or acknowledge their successes. If you aren’t doing this regularly, or if you tend to keep on moving for the next client, at least plan a quarterly celebration. It can be whatever size and type you want: dinner at a restaurant, an evening away from the computer, or a weekend totally unplugged from work.

Regardless of the type of sales refrigerator malfunction, you want to have regular short and long term ways of cleaning things up. You can understand that stored anxieties, like that stored food in an improperly running refrigerator, can become less than attractive. Like the refrigerator that needs regular cleaning, salespeople need to regularly fill up, firm up and follow up to their own actions and mindsets.

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