Would you be surprised to learn that, after 35 years, I experience fear prior to sales calls, presentations, training and speaking engagements? Yeah, I’d be surprised to read that too – except I really do. It’s not debilitating, it doesn’t cause stress or anxiety, it doesn’t prevent me from doing what I need to do and I don’t attempt to overcome it. Why? Because after 35 years, it’s the fear that makes me excel. It’s the fear that makes my speaking engagements so memorable. It’s the fear that makes my training programs so effective. It’s the fear that helps me succeed on my sales calls.

We’re about to enter the final quarter of the year. This is the time when salespeople evaluate their year, determine if they’re on target to goal, and what they need to do in the fourth quarter to be where they need to be. This has been a tough year for a great percentage of salespeople. Whether you were directly or indirectly affected by the financial crisis, you’re probably looking at making up some ground in the fourth quarter despite a very unstable economic outlook. There are many things that you could do to impact your fourth quarter, and a lot of them are bad things. I’ll point out twenty things that you should do:

Several months ago, I wrote about what closing actually feels like. This week, I’d like to discuss what urgency actually feels like. I’ve written about urgency in at least three prior Baseline Selling tips. You can read them here, here and here.

On Friday I posted an article to my Blog, based on the Red Sox’ miraculous comeback on Thursday evening against the Rays. My focus in that post was on the reaction of the fans but since I can write a more lengthy article here, I’ll focus on the players – Red Sox – who, during 2004, 2007 and so far this post-season, seem to find a way to win.

We attended an Eagles concert last Wednesday evening – the night before Thanksgiving – and it was awesome. The band was at its best and I forgot how many hits they had.

It’s been advertised. It’s all the media wants to talk about. It’s had an impact on the company you run or work for. Your customers and clients have been affected. Your home and investments have lost value. The recession is here, in full force, and there isn’t a single sign that it’s going to improve soon. So what must you do to not only survive this down-turn, but thrive in it as well? Here are my top 10:

Barack Obama uttered those words as part of his inauguration speech – “…pick yourself up and dust yourself off…”

In my mind, there isn’t a group of professionals more suited and more deserving of hearing those very words than salespeople. I have listened to more complaining, excuse making, whining, sob stories and negativity in the last 90 days than at any other time in the 24 years I have been in the sales development business.