How to make sales [even in difficult times]

“Every sale is an exchange of energy”.

Your energy goes into the products and services you sell.

And this is the premise of everything I’m about to share with you.

Personal story.

I’ll never forget when sales entirely dried up for me.

It was an extremely stressful time and it all started with one phone call.

A corporate client called and said?“sorry Pete, we can’t pay your invoices for another 3 months, please be patient”.

Damn, I was owed over?12K?from this one client.

I had just paid the corporation tax and VAT, so the business account was wiped out.

So yeah -?It was pretty rough.

“But it’s okay”?I thought, I have this IT company who are good to go with sales training!?

Email received…

So sorry Pete, the entire board of directors is being replaced, big shake up with the company, so we can’t go ahead with any training.

In the space of 48 hours, I went from being owed 50K, to wondering how I could cover my mortgage.

I couldn’t focus, I was frustrated, angry and wondering how is this all happening at the same time??

Ultimately,?I had to sell my home just to cover bills.

This was?2016.

But something happened in the second half of the same year.

After beating myself up a thousand times on everything went wrong, I had exhausted myself.?

I stepped back form everything, realised sometimes shit just happens and ultimately I knew everything would come right.

Selling my home was a blessing in disguise, it gave me time to gain perspective.

As I gained strength again mentally and emotionally, I was able to trust the next step.

I then, made the decision,?the second half of 2016 would be my best 6 months in my life yet.

I didn’t know how, I just knew I preparation was key.

Here’s what I did.

1) I focused on my own energy.

Sometimes we get so busy,?we forget who we are ??

In 2015, I made more money in a month than used to make in an entire year! I was travelling the world consulting for the biggest brands.

?But, underneath it all,?I was running on fumes.

Bad habits crept in, insecurities amplified and so did self sabotage.

Funny, you can be flying at your very highest and not realising your wings are on fire.

2016 showed me the result of living life this way.

Without money coming in, or clients to go and see, I didn’t have a choice, I had to focus on me.

There’s so much more I want to say about this, but I will say 2016 is the year I realised it doesn’t matter how great you are at what you do,?people buy into you.

Even if you can’t see it, people feel the icky buying from you when something is off with your energy.

Blame the universe or metro gatorade ??

Ultimately, it comes back to most of communication being what we ‘feel’ from someone.

AKA - People buy into your energy!?

I didn’t have enough clients or money coming in, because my energy had been off for a while.

It just took a while to see the outcome.

The good news - Within a few months of taking better care of myself mentally, spiritually and physically, things started to turn around for the better.?

2) I decided to niche fully into sales transformation.

?One of the reasons I was so busy in 2014 and 2015 was because I said yes to everything.

“Pete, can you teach leadership?”

SURE!?

“Hey, we need someone to do presentation skills, are you available?”

WHY NOT?

This list continues for another 9 pages.

?I became the ‘handy man’ of everything training and consulting.

The toughest thing about being a generalist, when it’s a good economy you’re spoilt and you eat well.

But, the moment times change you’re the first to go.

?In tough times, people (and companies) need experts in their craft.

I even had a client reach out to me asking if I knew a ‘sales expert’.

I said?“ME”!?

?He said?“we need someone who specialises in sales Pete, not you”.

Ouch.

Around May 2016, I decided I’ll niche down purely to sales, because it’s the one thing I know inside out and I’ve already gained such good results with my clients.?

I’ve never looked back since.

3) I cut out anything that would allow negativity to creep in.

This one point right here, was by far the biggest game changer.

But.

It’s also the most difficult to change.

Because it’s so easy to open the bottle of wine, or binge watch some crap on TV.

Yet - Somehow I managed to cutout all of the shit which was holding me back.

And I mean all of it.

Within a few days I felt a lot better, mentally sharp and more positive.

Within a few weeks I had a unlimited energy.

Within a few months… Well, I’ll tell you in a moment.

4) I simplified my entire business and life.

2014 and 2015 I rented every expensive car, had the most crazy life experiences and live like a rockstar.

My mum even nicknamed me James Bond during this time because?I was in New York consulting and I rented jet skis for me and my friends to race around the Hudson River.

Falling in the Hudson right under the statue of liberty is an experience in itself.

The following day, we took a helicopter tour over NYC.?

I spent tens of thousands, sometimes in a week, let alone the year.

Yep - Doesn’t matter how much you make, if you spend more.

2016 kicked my ass and got me back to what I valued.

This is why today, I live a very simple life in Thailand, although right now I am travelling for consulting for 3 months haha.

5) I stopped selling and focused entirely on helping a specific market.

When you’re super stressed out and worrying about money, the last thing you should do is become more stressed out and worried about money.

YOU MUST THINK DIFFERENTLY.?

Through pure exhaustion, I shifted my mindset to?‘what if it’s not even about me?’

Instead, what if the answer is how I can help others right now??

Despite lack of funds, I had plenty of time.

So I got to work educating my market, reaching out to past and current clients and seeing how I could help further with sales transformation.

The result of this and all the points above.

The second half of 2016 was by far?the best 6 months I ever had in my business and life.

Whenever tough times get the best of me now, I do my best to come back to these simple but powerful lessons.

Sure, these might not be 'tangible' how do I make sales NOW!??

But I also believe if you're going through a tough time right now, maybe INSTANT sales tips aren't what you need in this moment.

Perhaps, you need to come back to your ultimate power.?

You.