Debt crisis, stock market roller coastering, riots, wars… there’s lots of fodder for negative people to grab ahold of and wallow in. Add to that the fact that using the phone in sales can be one of the most morale-crushing tasks that anyone can perform–if you allow it to take you to that place.

We can’t control those other outside influences, any more than we can control the weather. We just need to adjust. But the phone part, well, there’s something we can be proactive about.

Let’s face it, most people are not wired to consistently take the beating that many folks on the phone face, day after day. Most normal humans quit doing something after it hurts. We make the next call.

To deal with this, I have always suggested two remedies:

1. Continually working on your selling skills to minimize the source of our negative feelings, which is resistance and a lack of accomplishment.

2. Continually working on keeping your attitude at a peak level. I maintain that 80% of your success is due to how you feel. Let’s look at this one today.

Just about a year ago at this time, I ran our Funniest/Most Embarrassing Phone Experiences Contest (worth reading if you’d like a laugh, or many), in which I received a number of great submissions. One that did not make the cut, according to the judges, actually had the most value as a learning experience.

It was submitted by "Bryan H." Here it is.

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A few years back when I was working in telecom, a rookie candidate had been on the phones for weeks and could not set an appointment for the life of him.

With much training and coaching he still could not get anyone to meet with him. It was my idea to attempt to measure his competence in a real life scenario so I built a calling list for him and replaced a prospect’s phone number with my cell number.

I stood by awaiting for his anxious call but I chickened out at the last minute and gave the phone to one of my coworkers standing by to witness.

Sure enough, my coworker put the new guy through a series of objections but showed signs of interest by eventually saying he was actually looking for a replacement provider and explained that the timing was perfect. The rookie proceeded to battle hard to other objections as the deal was qualified at a value of his entire YEAR of quota. At this point, I was ready for the call to end thinking it was getting out of hand and I had enough information to coach on.

However, my coworker at the last minute agreed to a meeting the following week. I was instantly shocked thinking that this wasn’t the way the call was supposed to end. When the call completed I felt perplexed but the next thing I heard across the building was

"BOOOO YAAAAAA B***CHES!!!!!".

The rookie’s loud and fast-paced footsteps lead him to my office with a huge grin to tell me how he just landed this huge meeting and it was a hot hot prospect. Inside I was laughing so hard but I kept my composure and told him to keep the momentum up and continue to call. He kept calling, and he set three more meetings that day.

The next week we faked a call back in to him and canceled the meeting saying that our contracts were still out another year.

Although not what he wanted, we knew he had a net positive for the scenario.

Moral: Psych yourself up to feel confident and successful before you make calls. People hear it in your voice and are attracted to it!

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What a great lesson! There are a number of quotes and beliefs related to this that you should keep in mind:

Success breeds success.

When you’re on a roll, keep at it.

You’re confident and positive if you believe you are.

Successful actions are a result of a positive and confident attitude.

If you fall into a "rut," visualize a zone you were in during your most successful and positive times.

Practice these ideas, and I’m confident you WILL make it your best sales week ever!