Are You Hot… Or Not?

by Jason Ogden | Oct 26, 2016

There aren’t many things better than being on a winning streak.  Whether it’s your favorite team or something in your life, winning influences your perception. The coffee tastes better and the world looks sunnier when you’re winning.  

Those of you whose profession requires anything to do with sales, you know exactly what I’m talking about.  When you’re winning business, the wins seem to stack up and everything you touch seems to close.  It feels like your own little sales win-streak.  

I have dealt with the alternating highs of a win streak and the lows of a cold spell.  It has recently occurred to me that it’s not the streak (win or lose) that’s real, that’s just the lagging indicator.  The only thing that’s real is how you’re playing.

Let’s first look at you on a winning streak.  You feel confident, energized, and to some degree, bulletproof.  However, when you’re in the middle of a cold spell, you feel the exact opposite; unsure, dreadful, and sometimes almost desperate.  It’s easy to think of those things as the result of being on a given streak (win or lose), but I think your perceptions are actually causing the results. There is no such thing as a win streak when it comes to sales.  To win business, you have to be present, thoughtful, creative, challenging, and diligent.  Those are all easier to do when you feel like you’re winning and you’re getting results. However, when you’re not winning, they are a challenge.  They take effort and discipline.   

To win business, you have to be present, thoughtful, creative, challenging, and diligent.

When you think about it, every sales deal is independent of the other.  Buyers aren’t agreeing to sign up in tandem. They’re not conferring with each other before choosing you.  The individual deals have no relationship to each other.  The only common thread among the deals in a given streak is you. So instead of worrying about my current run, I’m focused on how I’m handling each individual opportunity.   

If you focus on each and every opportunity individually and with all the zest, fervor, and skills you have, you’ll increase the likelihood of winning.  You’re going to be on streaks – hot and cold – all the time.  The trick is to tune that out and focus on the individual opportunities.  Be present, not busy.  Be thoughtful, not rushing to reply.  Be humble. If you can do this, you’ll not only win more but shorten the length of your slumps.