At some point in our lives, we’ve all experienced the dreaded, “Buyer’s Remorse.” Quite frankly, I think it’s more of an anomaly to not feel some sort of remorse after a difficult buying decision. Usually, the larger the decision, the greater the feelings of remorse can be.  When you sell for a living, you learn to pay attention to the feelings a customer can experience. The seller can provide support – not just during the decision-making process, but after that process has been completed.  The shocker is that those who sell for a living can experience remorse as well, and the repercussions can be devasting.

When you’re a sales person, you live to sell; it’s in your blood.  You are programmed to turn suspects into prospects – prospects into qualified prospects – and qualified prospects to satisfied customers.  It’s as easy as that.

Just in case it isn’t quite as “easy as that,” most sales people receive a commission to help motivate them to sell. They have sales managers who will add a little more “encouragement” to help motivate them to sell – and those sales people are often engaged in sales contests and bonuses. Before you know it, a sales person is unconsciously developing a mantra to say to him or herself: “If it moves, I’m selling it!”

Of course, you don’t really want to sell everyone… do you?  There are lines that sales people should never cross as well as lines that customers should never cross, but sometimes those lines get blurred, and they get blurred by the thoughts of all the motivation being received.

When that happens, we stop listening to our instincts, and plow forward.  After all, if it moves, you’re selling it.  For the record, there is often another voice that whispers, “I’m not so sure you want to sell this person,” but it’s drowned out by thoughts of victory, commission, bonuses, and ego.  It’s a shame, because that’s a whisper that needs to be listened to.

Most people who don’t sell think those who do have an easy job.  They’re wrong.  Sales people must live with rejection, often on a daily basis.  They must live with an unsteady, and often unpredictable, income.  But these issues pale in comparison to the difficulty that comes with the seller’s remorse that takes hold when you make the mistake of selling something to the wrong customer.

The fact is, one of the worst experiences a sales person can live through is selling to the wrong customer.  A bad customer can create legal issues.  A bad customer can create time management issues.  A bad customer can create emotional stress.  A bad customer can cost a sales person his or her job.  I’ve personally witnessed when a bad customer cost one of my colleagues his career.

The worst part of seller’s remorse is I’ve never met anyone who has retold a story that involved seller’s remorse ever say anything but, “I knew this customer was going to be trouble the moment I met them.”

It remains a mystery to me why we spend so much time teaching others how to sell and win, but little to no time teaching people how to walk away from a deal that he or she should not want to win. Personally, I think it starts with turning the volume up on those whispers you might be hearing and paying attention to the messages you are receiving. If you do, it may cost you a sale in the short run, but extend your career in the long run.

What do you get when combine energy, enthusiasm… and great content?  You get a “Pocket Sized Pep Talk!”  Tune in and you’ll hear a collection of BLArticles®, conversations, and interviews that are sure to teach, motivate, inspire, and dare I say, entertain!   https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pocket-sized-pep-talks/id1497772972

If you are looking for something to listen to on your next coffee break you might enjoy this brief chat between me and Tom Bailey, Founder of Succeed Through Speaking and the Succeed Through Speaking podcast. Listen closely if you would like some high value ideas to boost your business results.  You can read the transcript here – https://bit.ly/3BOfU7o  –  You can watch the podcast here – https://youtu.be/w-QgGvweE2M  –  You can listen to the podcast here – https://apple.co/2YVGWuN

I Zoomed my way to India to speak with Motivational Diaries, and Ashish Janiani.  We spoke for about 30 minutes about sales processes and training for success.   Sales Process To Sales Success || Interview With Robert Jolles – YouTube

If you want to read some “Life Lessons” I was able to share in a recent interview, you’ll find them here:  https://worldclassperformer.com/short-life-lessons-from-robert-jolles/

I had the pleasure of appearing on Robert Miller’s, Follow Your Dream Podcast and thoroughly enjoyed the discussion.  We go way back in this conversation to my first memories of performance… at age four!  I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!  https://follow-your-dream.simplecast.com/episodes/rob-jolles-superstar-salesman

I also mixed it up with a wonderful podcaster, Terry McDougall on her Marketing Mambo show.  As she puts it, we “Cha-cha-chatted!”  If you want to hear sales and marketing go toe-to-toe, you’ll enjoy this show. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1569061/8172686-the-art-of-influence-in-sales-and-marketing-with-rob-jolles

I recently did a podcast with a wonderful, new, and up-and-coming star named Jahmaal Marshall.  His podcast is called, “Listen Then Speak.”  I’ve done a lot of podcasts, but we got into topics I rarely talk about, and I’m quite sure you’ll enjoy the show!  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/listen-then-speak/id1550684472

I’ve appeared on the “Small Business Advocate Show” with Jim Blasingame for almost 20 years now, and you’ll find dozens of our conversations on his website.  We just sat down a few weeks ago for a great conversation about selling fundamentals and the strategic use of stories.  Here’s a link to over 100 interviews done over the years, including my most recent interview that explores our many behaviors we display that are based more on a default mechanism than actual logic. https://www.smallbusinessadvocate.com/small-business-experts/rob-jolles-134

We posted a video series on delivering amazing online presentations with my friend, Jeremy Webb.  We go over some great stuff including:

• How to Select the Best Equipment for Online Presentations
• Pro Tips for Sustaining Interest in Online Presentations
• How to Look Like a Pro!
• Public Speaking Anxiety Tip
• Virtual Office Setup for Online Presentations

You’ll find the whole playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRO7BsBDl6oL-6ZPW3O01x-g5PiR38ljL

I was recently interviewed on the “Salesman Podcast,” which was a lot of fun. If you’re looking to Change Minds, check out this podcast: https://www.salesman.org/the-simple-step-by-step-process-to-influence-anyone-with-rob-jolles/

I loved talking about the book, Why People Don’t Believe You on a podcast that I’m sure you’ll like called Onward Nation: https://predictiveroi.com/podcasts/rob-jolles/

After 30+ years as a professional speaker and trainer, one of the most common questions I get is this: “How do we make sure the training sticks?”  Take a moment and listen to this podcast; “SalesChats” with John Golden.  If you want to know why most training fails, listen up! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR3dDOlTK7U&list=FLxBXKhqz0xBwbUPMqNthAJA&index=2&t=1293s