There is no ‘try’ in the sale!

I was driving to the office yesterday when a thought came to mind. Reflecting on the previous day’s sales problems, I heard the voice of Mr. Miyagi, from the original “Karate Kid” movie:

“There is no TRY” in karate, he advised young Daniel.

What Miyagi was referring to, of course, is the fact that trying harder to do certain kicks, blocks, and punches is counterproductive. Instead of going faster, we slow down.

This seems counterintuitive, but the fact is that trying too hard can cause you to choke or have a seizure. In baseball, the slumping batter “presses” too hard. Instead of meeting the ball, he tries to smash it.

And this slows down his bat speed, so he hits and misses, which exacerbates his problems. The opposite is to stay relaxed, approach karate, baseball and even selling in a relaxed way.

So here I was, on my way to another day of sales, and I decided to take it easy, unlike the day before, when I sweated through almost every presentation. I stayed relaxed, took several breaks, and even walked about a mile during lunch.

And what was the result of the adjustment? I sold three times more than the day before. Most of all, I had fun.

Well, you might be thinking. But how can we stay loose and avoid falling into the trap of trying?

I like Wayne Dyer’s suggestion in his book, The power of intention.

He says: “Separate yourself from the result.”

I take this to mean that we need to create a certain amount of role distance from what we’re doing. Also, we need to stop that self-dialogue that is anxiously asking, “Am I going to get this sale?” or who insists, “I really MUST GET this deal!”

Instead, the Law of Large Numbers applies. Stick to your game plan, which will help you get through it. Keep swinging, as loosely and naturally as you can. Inevitably, some of those changes will result in hits, and some will fly over the fence to hit home runs.

But what do you tell yourself during bad spells to avoid over-exerting yourself? The results, good and bad, are grouped. Just like coin tosses, you won’t get perfectly alternating heads and tails.

Sales are also not evenly distributed, so don’t expect today to duplicate yesterday’s pattern.

Or, as baseball legend Yogi Berra joked when a reporter asked Berra what he does when he collapses at the plate: “I blame the bat! What else am I going to do, blame myself?”