Revisiting Mental Gymnastics

Back in 2018, I gave you a Mental Gymnastics QuickTip – How to Get Moving When the Clock’s Ticking. This isn’t the same thing as GRIT, yet feels to me like a way you can identify gritty behavior in your every day inside sales world.

As I think about how to incorporate – build up – strengthen my own grit, that idea of practice keeps coming up.

Let’s revisit mental gymnastics!

What can mental gymnastics do for you? Let’s race the clock and find out.

Tick, tick, tick.

3:35 p.m.

Staring. Doing nothing. Pondering about where to start.

Four cold calls to make:

• 2 are for a huge company I find overwhelming to figure out
• 1 is a guy who intimidates me
• 1 is for a company I don’t know much about

Ah, the path of least resistance. Research. That is the one I’ll tackle.

3:38 p.m.

I have a system I use for researching a company. When all else fails, I can follow the steps on my list and move things along.

Movement is necessary. Staring and doing nothing? Not so good.

*I have my writing materials ready for my research*

1. Use a resource to get an org chart.
2. Google company name and click news.  4th quarter earnings is all I see on page 1. Found out their fiscal year ended Sept 30.
3. Head over to their website to find something useful.

I’m taking notes. If I think I will remember, I may remember now but not tomorrow or next week or whenever I finally get a voice on the other end of my call. I don’t want to have to look this up again.

3:41 p.m.

*Ready to call someone*

3:41 p.m. (still)

*I’m dialing*

Got voicemail.
       Looked up someone else on LinkedIn – voicemail.
              Searched a 3rd person’s name – no option to leave a voicemail.
                     4th – voicemail + email.

3:52 p.m.

Now I feel like I’ve got this – I still don’t want to call that guy who intimidates me… BUT I have my script, I know I can do this.

*I’m giving myself THREE MINUTES to research*

1. Google his name, nothing new.
2. Google company name and click news – their quarterly earnings reports aren’t looking great.
3. Modify my voicemail script slightly, have my script up in front of me in case he answers…

3:55 p.m.

Voicemail.

I leave a message and zero out to ask the operator if there is someone else I can speak with.

Transfer to a real LIVE human.

Get referred, back to Mr. Intimidating.

Ask 3 qualifying questions before I let them go.

Celebrate that I have gathered a few great nuggets for the next time I call…

I’m feeling a little LESS intimidated now. Information is power and fuel for me.

4:03 p.m.

*Only those two huge companies left*

Tick. Tick. Tick.

My brain tries to convince me to put it off. It whispers to me. It says, “Why bother starting something THAT huge at the end of the day?”

It’s a compelling voice, that voice in my head.

I’ve developed something for just such an occasion.

I call it my “one-thing” trick.

I think about using my one-thing trick on myself.

4:05 p.m.

I’ve decided. I WILL use my one-thing trick, which is: *Find out ONE thing new by calling*

Company 1

I don’t look anything up. Instead, I call – and ask the operator, “Before I ask to be transferred, can you tell me ___________?”

I get my answer!

Then I ask, “Who would you recommend I talk with about that?”

And I get transferred!

Found out TWO things. Success.

Company 2

Again, I don’t look anything up, instead, I call – and ask the operator “Before I ask to be transferred, can you tell me ___________?

Response = you have to have a name.

Of course, I have a name and get transferred… to voicemail.

Nothing found out, BUT I did begin.

I celebrate beginning.

4:11 p.m.

I send off a request to my resource for an org chart.

Easy. Movement.

 4:12 p.m.

*I give myself ONE minute to think about something funny about sales*

And the funny thing is this:

A lot of inside sales is mental gymnastics.

• Convincing yourself to do SOMETHING rather than NOTHING.
• Combining research AND calling to move forward with a prospect.

4:13 p.m.

*Chuckle about mental gymnastics*

And then I …

4:14 p.m.

*Celebrate taking action*

Tick. Tick. Tick.
Choices.
Mental gymnastics.
Doing the next thing.
Having systems to fall back on.

Movement.

Small successes ARE the successes.

4:15 p.m.

*Breathe*

 
Thank you for joining me for a 40-minute journey through my personal inside sales mental gymnastics. Hopefully, you saw some quick tips you can use and implement.

Grit is defined as passion and perseverance for very long-term goals by Dr. Angela Lee Duckworth – this is one way that perseverance shows up in my day-to-day sales activity.

How does perseverance show up in yours?
 
Resolutely yours,
Lynn