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Your firm’s top biller is no longer selling. Your new agents aren’t making enough calls. Your company’s sales figures are suffering. You have a severe problem — your salespeople have been infected with the dreaded disease called f.e.a.r. The first place this disease strikes is the brain, causing salespeople to continually repeat phrases such as, "This couple will never buy", "I’m not good at selling", and "The market is down." After f.e.a.r. attacks the brain, it then renders the person’s fingers immobile so they don’t make scheduled appointments or follow-ups. This leads to sales paralysis and muteness at the time of closing. Salespeople stricken by this disease often rest, waiting for the symptoms to go away or concentrate on preparing the most beautiful brochures for the few properties they do have listed. The only known cure lies in action. They must do the very things they fear. Action must come before belief — and it’s the belief system that must be changed in order to vanquish f.e.a.r. The letters f.e.a.r. stand for False Evidence Appearing Real. This is when the mind believes something to be real and action is taken on that belief even though it is false. The only real limitations one has is in one’s own mind. If we believe that we can’t do something or don’t deserve something, our actions will be subconsciously directed at fulfilling that belief. It’s as though we walk around in a glass prison, limited by our beliefs. Any time we move into a situation that doesn’t fit these beliefs, we sabotage ourselves. If a salesperson doesn’t believe he can sell that $400,000 property, he won’t. Often you’ll see a person have an extraordinary month only to drop below average for the next couple of months so that the three month average is exactly what he’s been billing all along. The one good month exceeded his comfort zone so he had to take action (or inaction in this case) to bring reality into synch with his belief system. Salespeople face constant rejection and it causes them to lose confidence and belief in themselves. They then voice doubts about what they can do. This is a self fulfilling prophesy. As soon as they begin to believe they can’t do something, they will conduct themselves so that the prophesy comes true. To stop this cycle, whenever a doubt enters your mind, clap your hands loudly and yell "Stop!" Now rephrase your thoughts in a positive way. If you’ve been thinking "I can’t sell this customer.", change it to "I’m a great Realtor and after he hears what I have to say, he’ll want to buy this house from me!" One of the oddest expressions of f.e.a.r. is the fear of success. We all develop the well known "comfort zones". These are situations where we feel comfortable. Career, relationships, virtually everything is controlled by comfort zones. We make the amount of money we feel comfortable making. We have the types of relationships we are comfortable with. Sometimes our comfort levels are far below what our potential is. When this happens, the comfort zone needs to be expanded. How to cure this disease is one of the most fantastic discoveries of our times in the field of brain research. Renowned psychologist William James discovered that whenever there is a conflict between the will and the subconscious mind, the subconscious wins. Therefore, the way to break the bonds of f.e.a.r. is to change the picture you carry in your subconscious mind. Action must precede the belief. In other words, in order to believe something, you must first act as though you believe it, even if you don’t. Too often people wait until the feeling of accomplishment or confidence comes before they take action. This feeling does not come. They must start with the action. The belief and confidence comes later. This is done with affirmations. Written messages that tell what you can do and what you will do. These are read and re-read over a period of 30 days. Why 30 days? Because research shows that it takes 30 days to change a habit. If you are selling 8 homes a year and want to double that, your affirmation would read "I am now selling 16 homes every year." Affirmations are written in the present tense and are specific. If you say "I will sell 16 homes", your subconscious mind will always put it in the future. If you say "I want to sell more", you could achieve your goal with only one more home a year. Instead say, "I am now selling 16 homes every year." These techniques have been used for centuries. In the Bible, Mark 11:24 says, "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Henry Ford commented, "Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right." People have made millions from knowing this technique. Read the book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. It demonstrates the sheer power of the mind and states, "Repetition of affirmation of orders to your subconscious mind is the only known method of voluntary development of the emotion of faith." Now is the time to set your goals higher. Go after whatever you want. You can achieve it! |
