I had a root canal filling a couple of weeks ago. The reaction from anyone I told was a combined wince and sharp intake of breath.
“Did it hurt?”
“It took an hour? I wouldn’t fancy that.”
“I hate the thought of going to the dentist: needles and drills!”
Naturally, I put on a brave (if somewhat swollen) face for enduring this death-defying procedure. What a hero!
The reality? Not a hero. Not death-defying. Not even remotely painful.
The thought of it is usually worse than the reality. A bit like selling then.
Have you got panophobia?
I can’t find a term for the fear of selling, so will use the fear of everything instead. Picture this: you know you need to pick up the phone and call a prospect or a customer who’s gone quiet. Rather than reach for the phone, you find yourself drawn to some inconsequential piece of admin that has suddenly become priority one. You, my friend, have a case of perception-worse-than-reality-itis.
What’s going on? Why the anxiety? It’s just your amygdala doing its job. You’re facing a threat (the need to pick up the phone and SPEAK; you know, sales stuff), which sets off your own early-warning system. The physical symptoms usually include rapid breathing. Why? Because your body has been told it’s under attack and so needs to increase the intake of oxygen to boost alertness. Your job is to calm your amygdala and let it know everything’s okay: false alarm guys! And to do that, simply regain control of your breathing (some deep abdominal breathing).
Is that it?
No. If you’re not happy making the call, then you know that something needs to be addressed. And that could be one of a number of things. Which is why there’s a link here to a whole host of really short sales videos from that fella who won the BESMA Sales Trainer of the Year award.
Have a flick through the library and watch the ones that you know will tackle your Achilles heel.
My Achilles heel is my dodgy tooth that required root canal work. But there’s no point being down in the mouth about it.
Image sourced from Pixabay
