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A fellow founder was having issues getting as excited about doing sales, and it made me think about how much I used to hate sales and how my therapist has helped me love it.
I& #39;m the only salesperson in our company, and grew the company 200% YoY (as of June). A thread on therapy.
I& #39;m the only salesperson in our company, and grew the company 200% YoY (as of June). A thread on therapy.
I used to have so much trouble doing sales. The constant rejection, the considerable up-front work you have to do to get decent leads, and how hard it is to figure out the positioning of our product/services was extremely challenging.
I& #39;ve been in therapy for almost 3 years and naturally, it eventually started leaking into work b/c I was struggling with growing the company. I couldn& #39;t get started on tasks I knew would lead to sales, and I couldn& #39;t get myself to make bets on new channels. It was a mess.
The main insights were:
- I hated the idea of being rejected.
- I was anxious about not growing fast enough and having to fire people if we lost existing revenue.
So I used a few techniques to get out of the rut:
- I hated the idea of being rejected.
- I was anxious about not growing fast enough and having to fire people if we lost existing revenue.
So I used a few techniques to get out of the rut:
1. Negative visualization really helped me. Going through worst-case scenarios with sales (e.g. we can& #39;t grow and lose revenue, so we& #39;d have to fire everyone).
I got out of this by planning better (extremely lean operations) and making sure we have 3-6 months of runway.
I got out of this by planning better (extremely lean operations) and making sure we have 3-6 months of runway.
2. Deconstructing rejection really helped me. Why would I get rejected in the first place? Is it something I& #39;m saying? Is it our work that& #39;s not good enough? Is it even my fault?
It taught me to re-do my whole sales process to speak to our strengths in a way that stands out.
It taught me to re-do my whole sales process to speak to our strengths in a way that stands out.
3. Playing the game. Our minds are designed to like playing games, so repositioning everything as a game made me enjoy playing it! What are the cheat codes? How can I get early rewards? It& #39;s made me constantly improve every month and it& #39;s finally showing.
All of this to say: I highly recommend therapy for you. Founder or not!
