Control

Don’t focus on what you can’t control. This is difficult for many salespeople. Often, we spend years griping about factors out of our control, from bad weather to cutthroat competitors to unresponsive management. All of these negatives may well be true, but that doesn’t matter. A first step is to begin to put energy into only areas where we can create change. Take responsibility for those areas that you can control, and do all you can to create the results you want. Nobody can force a customer to return a call, but self-managed salespeople know they can write down the prospecting calls they intend to make that day – and then actually make them.