Ups and Downs
Ups and downs. Every job has period of ups and downs. Most of the times it's part of the physiological cycle of our activities. Sales and commercial people are supposed to be always on the top of the mountain: happy, positive, motivated, focused on objective and constantly bringing sales/contracts. Well, it's not like that, and the ones who look always strong and winning are just pretending. We have bad days, weeks and even months. Bu this is not making us unsuccessful commercial people.
After so many years in commercial teams I know I may have periods with poor new business coming in. In the first years I was frustrated and in those periods I felt unsuccessful and in the wrong place. But at the same time I couldn't understand why I could bring good business in for periods and then, all of a sudden, I could find no new opportunities. I felt guilty.
Then I realized I was always the same Francesca and it could not be me the cause of this. So I've learnt to accept the down days, weeks and months as part of my job. Accept the flow. Just focus on what is important in that specific moment. A bad day is ok, just let it go by. it last only 24 hours. If it's longer, start to work on other aspects of your job, as your network, and prepare the path for the moment the rollercoaster will bring you up again. It will happen. Because, if you know how to bring business in, you will for sure. Be professional. Take that bad time to study and update yourself, design new strategies, identify new potential leads, update the hundreds DBs all of us see as nightmare is busy periods, think out of the box, as for this you need spare time, let clients know you're there ready to support them and let bad times become times you build your knowledge, professionality and your network.
A good commercial person has never bad times, at the end that's true: just invest your time in different ways.
Just take your time to understand where you are and which direction you have to take. That's excatly what I'm doing :-)