The power of self-discipline in sales should never be underestimated because it is probably the most important quality you will find in any successful sales professional. No one likes boring or hard-selling tasks, but they’re usually the only way to hit the jackpot at the end of the hard work.
Behavior change
Self-discipline in sales is more about doing what you don’t want to do than it is about doing what you like to do. Everyone prefers to call eager customers who are ready and waiting with their credit cards rather than cold calling complete strangers. The secret to a successful sale is to form the habit of getting the hard stuff out of the way first, and if you can do it successfully, two things will happen as a result:
1. You will be much more successful in your career or business
2. You will feel much better about yourself and your self-esteem will grow
emotional discipline
In my opinion, one of the main reasons people fail in sales would be a lack of emotional discipline or emotional intelligence. The ability to control your emotions in selling can really make the difference between being in the top 5% and being in the bottom 20%, so it pays to do some work in this area. Some people may think that you can’t change your emotions, but I don’t really agree with this theory. In fact, I don’t even think we need to change our emotions; it’s much more a case of “managing” them. We need to know when to stop being too opinionated with the client and try to give them as much space as possible to express their ideas. It can be hard to swallow at times, but it will definitely bring rewards in the long run.
Task prioritization
It’s not so much what you do; is when you do. There will always be tasks of greater importance that are revenue generators and other tasks that can be delayed or delegated. Brian Tracy has a wonderful book about eating a frog or something. Eating the frog symbolizes the idea of getting rid of difficult tasks first thing in the day instead of constantly putting them off to a point where they will probably never be finished.
Building blocks of self-control
I don’t think it’s realistic for a person to develop self-discipline superpowers overnight, and therefore the best solution is to implement it gradually over a period of time. Research often claims that it takes 21-30 days to develop a new habit. I personally think this will vary from person to person. Some people have already been raised by their parents with a stronger element of self-discipline, while others have been allowed much more flexibility. Setting achievable goals is a great way to reach higher levels of discipline because every step of the way is like a victory in itself.
Raise your expectations
Sometimes it’s a good idea to raise your expectations if you want to increase your level of self-discipline. They are two elements that fit very well together, since one must trigger the other. If you want to increase your level of sales income, it will almost certainly take a higher level of self-discipline to do so.