Tim Richardson shares ways to navigate mental blocks.
By Pete Mercer
Rest is an elusive need that many of us have trouble making time for, despite how badly we need it. When you aren’t getting enough rest, you can see the effects start to bleed into other areas of your life. Your relationships with friends and family can suffer, and it’s the enemy of productivity for anything work related. Sales in particular are vulnerable with a hustle and grind culture
In a recent episode of The Cure … with Scotty and Sully, Scott Adams and Brian Sullivan spoke with Tim Richardson about his experiences in helping sales reps to take the time to recharge and how to overcome mental blocks. Richardson has an upcoming series that focuses on his “Unlock the Block” programs, which is designed to help sales reps navigate the barriers that hold them back from selling success and deliver five-star service experiences.
Here are a few key takeaways:
Build time to recharge into your schedule
The advances in technology are beneficial in so many ways – we have access to everything we could ever want to know at the tip of our fingers. On the flip side, our communities are slowly fraying as people spend more time on their phones. For some, it can even be used to “wind down” from exterior stimuli and unplug from those around us.
With the busyness of our work schedules and daily lives constantly compounding, it’s important to build time to unplug from our phones and calendars to recharge and reset. Richardson experienced the toll that this sort of 24/7 access mentality can take on our personal lives and decided to unplug on the weekends.
“We have television 24/7. We can order stuff online 24/7. We can have conversations with people 24/7. I say to people, ‘Stop the madness.’ Turn off the phone, turn off the screen and have real, meaningful connections with the people around you. You will be a better salesperson, a better spouse, parent, sibling, friend, community member, volunteer – you’ll be better at whatever roles you have by simply taking time to stop.”
Navigating mental blocks
Sales reps in any industry face all sorts of literal and mental barriers that make it harder to close deals. It’s especially difficult if you’re in a rut or stuck to a certain order of operations mandated by your organization. Creativity will be your best friend in these situations.
“You have to give yourself permission to not do the things that you’ve always done in the past,” Richardson said. “I like to tell salespeople that the word ‘no’ really means ‘next option’. What’s the next option if we can’t get through or penetrate to our client? We have to be able to put ourselves out there multiple times.”
If you can’t reach your contact via email, try the phone. If that doesn’t work, try LinkedIn. “Resiliency is key here! Don’t be afraid to try something new and out of your comfort zone – it might just work.”