the potential customer? Were you worrying about your image, the tough reputation of your prospect, or an argument you had with your spouse that morning? These types of stress can ruin your concentration. At times like these, you can apply
three mental techniques to help you concentrate: 1) the nature scene, 2) breathing out, and 3) the countdown. Each of these is used in medita- tion techniques taught by the Mind Power Institute. The Nature Scene: With the “na-
ture technique,” close your eyes and bring to mind a beautiful, relaxing scene from nature...a mountain lake, ocean beach, or forest stream. Visual- ize the place as if you were there. Re- view all its details. Is the sun shining? Is the breeze blowing? Is it warm or cool? Are there any sounds? The idea is to paint a vivid picture – so complete it creates a placid, relaxed mood for you. Doing this for a minute or two can produce surprising- ly relaxing results because it focuses your mind and mentally detaches you from what you are doing, both physi- cally and consciously. Breathing Out: The next technique is to close your eyes while you are in a comfortable position and pretend your breath is a pump you will use to rid yourself of tension and replace it with relaxation. With each breath, tell yourself mentally you are breathing out tension and breathing in peace, relaxation, and confidence. As you do this, focus your attention on the parts of your body, beginning at the top of your head. Mentally tell yourself that you are breathing out the tension in your scalp and breath- ing in relaxation, and that you can feel it becoming more and more relaxed. Do this first with your scalp, then on down to your forehead, the muscles around your eyes, your cheeks, jaws, neck, shoulders, and so on – all the way down to your feet and toes. Spend time and focus your attention on each part as you go until you find yourself calm and refreshed. The Countdown: The third method
is the countdown. In a comfortable position, close your eyes and focus your mental attention on the number 21. Repeat it mentally a number of times while visualizing it on a red background and telling yourself (each time you visualize a number) that you are going deeper and deeper into a state of relaxation. Continue with the number 20, 19, 18, and so on until you reach the number 1.
When visualizing the numbers, see 21, 20, and 19 on a red background; 18, 17, and 16 on an orange back- ground; 15, 14, and 13 on a yellow background; 12, 11, and 10 on a green background; 9, 8, and 7 on a blue background; 6, 5, and 4 on a purple background; and 3, 2, and 1 on a violet background. By the time you have finished, you should be much more relaxed – physically, mentally, and emotionally. You can deal with stress using techniques like these while you pre- pare yourself for sales presentations, closings, and other situations. When a lack of concentration caused by stress makes you forgetful, insensitive to the prospect’s needs or questions, appear to lack confidence in yourself or your product, or fail to follow through with promised information or action, then it’s time to save the sale by getting rid of the stress!
2) INTERRUPTIONS The second roadblock to concentra- tion is interruptions. These can play
havoc with your concentration on important jobs.
Frustrating external interruptions can be dealt with. People, telephone calls, and the like can easily be cut off – either you or your prospect may ask for no interruptions. Your prospect may welcome that as much as you do, so suggest it with the message that, by doing so, you both can save time by focusing on his or her needs. If external interruptions cannot be avoided, try to arrange a different time and/or place to do business. This can relieve the pressure both you and your prospect may be feeling at the time. Internal interruptions are the sneaki- er ones inside your own mind – sneak- ier because you may not always be aware of them, though they are just as damaging to your concentration as the external ones. They are mental attitudes or a lack of mental discipline you can overcome with specific men- tal techniques. Reprogram Your Thinking: Have you ever found yourself saying, “I just can’t concentrate on this job,” or, “I’ll never be able to get this done”? When you do this, you are program- ming yourself to have these state- ments come true – to make things more difficult or make that deadline impossible to meet.
Catch yourself when saying these things and, instead, say, “I am able to concentrate on this job,” or, “I will get this done on time and it will be successful.” Since we can program
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VIDEO: HOW TO ALIGN INSIDE SALES WITH YOUR BUSINESS STRATEGY
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