Everyone would love to work from home but what do you do when sales are tough. I have to convert calls into sales and it is not happening at present and getting me down. A lot of it is down to price not my excellent telephone manner and rapport. Any ideas (answers) in this area would be much appreciated! i dont do my homework. but i do do it when i am really bored. sad but true. First of all if you have kids, blow up a picture of them. Tack it to your ceiling right above your bed. Then every morning you wake up their faces are the first thing you see. If this doesn't work there is no hope for you. I like to watch a couple movies to help get the juices flowing. Here are a couple of my favorite all time scenes:
Boiler Room
http://youtube.com/watch?v=HtmhqqSPpU8
Glen Gary Glen Ross
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TROhlThs9...
Enjoy... Very good question. I actually don't sell product any more to earn a monthly income because I got burned out with other companies. What I do now is very pleasing and my heart is in it, your heart has to be in it to make it. I motivate myself to earn certain promotions that are very good. I like money, and I like watching my check get bigger every month, so money motivates me. Jennifer Well, I'm not in sales but I do work from home as a writer with no base salary so it's do or die, but at times that hasn't kept me motivated. I started writing full time in 2002 and prior to that all of my work was outside the house, so I've been in both places. Although we have different vocations I think the problem is psychological more than anything else. I've met other authors who fall into it naturally and thrive and others who have had a hard time with it like me especially in the internet age. Let's first put aside that sales, by it's nature ebbs and flows, and you sometimes can't do anything about that. It just gets slow. I guess learning to identify that and not beat yourself up during those down periods is essential as long as it is legitimately slow and you're not making up an excuse. That'll free you up for the heavier times. You may have already used some of the following suggestions or worked out something, but these ideas were more baseline to create a decent environment.
1. If you're used to a schedule, create a new one, even if it doesn't pertain to work. I found that I was fairly hard-wired to a schedule from years of working for an employer, and although I consider myself a motivated person, I had a difficult time being disciplined. I was used to being told what to do and felt lost without this direction, even though I hated to admit it.
2.Once I created a schedule what worked for me was starting the day with a task I enjoyed that didn't require all my mental resources. I would do a chore around the house, excercize, or if I started writing it would be something for my own entertainment, something fun or non related to my assignment. You have some flexibility, you don't have to start the day off with work per se, but you do have to get moving.
3. Be specific with your schedule. So much time that involves make a living, so much time for the other activities we do to break up the day. Try hard to adhere to it for a week no matter what, and then start adjusting.
4. Stay in touch with co-workers and people in your business. Being alone so much of the time lead me to isolating tendencies, which lead to depression and a bad attitude, which affected my work. It's great to have a network, and I meet outside the house a few times a week with other writers. I count it as hours worked when I do.
5. Let someone you trust, someone who knows you, and is non-judgemntal know what you're doing and what you intend to accomplish. Share your work goals with them, and whatever else you want to. It helps to keep you accountable and adds an objective perspective, as your own can get skewed from being alone.
What some of us have done when the creative process is slow or we just get lazy.
1. Hardest first. Some of us can jump right up, turn on the computer and start working, but they are in the minority. I have to use a little force to get my *** in front of that computer and start writing. With you it may be that first call you have to make. There was no way around this, as there is resistance in me, and all of us. When I found that impossible I called my closest, trusted, support and he helped me get
going.
2. I wanted to not say this, because it sounds trite, but it helps.
Keep a positive attitude. Okay, I said it. For me it's really believing that something is going to happen, something will come to me, an idea, a concept, energy when I need it. But this is contingent upon starting the hands on process of work.
3. Your business is based on price. You have a commodity that has a particular selling point. I'm sure you've probably exhausted the ways and means to sell your product as to what is beneficial compared to others. It gets cut and dry, but don't be afraid to try a different approach even if it seems ridiculous. Your business is also based on numbers. Keep in mind that this is probably tested and true. If you make so many calls your going to get so many hits in the long run. Some self- employed people would love this kind of certainty.
4.When you're sure you've done all you can (and you know this down deep, if not a support person can remind you), and nothing is happening you get the day off. That's right. Get over how uncomfortable that may feel, but it is one of the greatest benefits of working from home. Remember all the time in the workplace you spent doing useless tasks just to appear busy and keep your boss happy? Those days are over. Enjoy yourself and good luck! I hope one idea might have helped you here. I have to get back to work, but just for a few hours. oops one more thing.
5. Working from home is not as easy as it seems. Some people just aren't cut out for it. Too many distractions, a huge change in venue, too much isolation. People try it and find it's not working after dreaming about it for years. I know writers who rent office space and leave the house, do their work and come home. They are happier and more effective. It's not a moral issue if it doesn't work out. We need to be in the place we're most productive, but more than that, happier.
WJ "Homeworkers....what do you do to motivate yourself?"
Just remember that in life there is a lean and peak season. What you are encountering will soon pass <of course if you do your homework> and will again hold success into your hands.
>> Read interesting stories from successful people, watch the movie "In pursuit of happyness". In this way you can look forward to a better future.
>> List your past achievements.
>> Sharpen your skills by buying or borrowing books about your industry. In this way, you can find new ways to master your skills.
Hope this helps. |
