Why do Slumps happen, and how to can we coach reps through them
Salespeople have at least one thing in common with pro baseball players: Slumps. All major leaguers ? even all-stars ? go through extended periods where they can’t get a hit. Pressure builds. Confidence erodes. After a while a player can feel so defeated, so helpless, that his attitude virtually guarantees the hitless streak will continue.
It’s the same with good salespeople, even seasoned vets. A long-term customer bails with no warning. A sure-thing prospect fails to convert. Calls don’t get returned. A sales rep caught in a cycle like this can get downright demoralized. And, like the ballplayer, the rep’s attitude of helplessness can be the biggest obstacle to getting back on course.
The job of a sales manager is to coach reps out of their slumps. But the problem is deeply psychological and most managers don’t moonlight as psychologists. So how do you do it
Martin Seligman, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, is best known for his ground-breaking research on learned helplessness?a condition in which people become psychologically immobilized in the face of negative experiences. What’s less well known is that Seligman’s research began with a study of salespeople.
In the study, which observed sales reps at a major insurance company, Seligman found that one factor outweighed all others in determining who d succeed at sales: Optimism. Optimists, he discovered, had a different way of talking to themselves about failure. He called it explanatory style.? Seligman mapped individuals? explanatory style along three dimensions:
- Personal: Is the explanation internal or external? Did I cause this adverse event to happen, or was it created by external circumstances?? If successful reps encounter a rude prospect, they use an external explanation. They say, He must be having a bad day.? Unsuccessful reps use an internal explanation. They say, I m ticking people off.
- Pervasiveness: Is the explanation universal or specific When successful reps lose a prospect, they focus on why this specific account failed to convert, as in Cash was tight, so they chose the wrong solution just because it was cheaper.? Unsuccessful reps use universal language such as, Nobody cares about quality anymore.
- Permanence: Is the explanation permanent or temporary? When successful reps get rejected repeatedly, they say, This is hard, but it’ll turn around if I keep doing the right things.? Unsuccessful reps seek explanations suggesting the problem is permanent and beyond their control, as in Our product isn’t good enough? or Customer needs have changed.
Optimists? explanatory style gives them the ability to be persistent in the face of adversity. Those lacking optimism internalize their failure and begin to see it as a pervasive and permanent problem.
Seligman’s research suggests that sales slumps are, in fact, a species of learned helplessness. Salespeople come to believe that they are powerless to achieve their goals. As a result, they stop doing the things that lead to sales and begin to practice avoidant behaviors ? both of which create a self-fulfilling prophecy that makes success even more elusive.
For a sales coach to end a rep’s self-destructive cycle, the coach must explain adversity like an optimist ? that failure is caused by external and temporary factors and not rooted in the salesperson’s abilities. According to Seligman’s research, if a coach can change the way a salesperson explains adversity, the right behaviors will follow and they’ll get out of their slump. If beliefs change, behaviors change. If behaviors change, you increase the likelihood of success.
The key for the coach is to get the salesperson focused on their behaviors, not outcomes. The slump may continue for some time, but the rep must remain optimistic. If the salesperson is back to doing what made them successful, the results will eventually follow.
Back to baseball. There’s only one reason a talented, healthy ballplayer with a good swing sinks into a confidence-draining slump ? pessimistic thoughts that cause him to stop doing what made him successful in the first place. For salespeople, as for hitters, you need to change the thinking, which changes the belief, which changes the performance. Coaches, both in baseball and sales, can help in that process.
Source:?Seligman, M. E. (2011). Learned optimism: How to change your mind and your life. New York, NY: Random House.
