In Life and In Sales, Take This Advice

Who doesn’t love the movie Moonstruck? Besides being hilarious, romantic, and an iconic snapshot of NYC, it’s filled with brilliant words of wisdom delivered in the most unexpected ways. 

One of its most memorable scenes is when Nicolas Cage’s Ronny first tells Loretta (Cher) that he loves her. She slaps him across the face and says, “Snap out of it!” And then she slaps him again, to make sure they both get the point.  

It’s a poignant phrase for anyone needing to get back on track and focus on productive behaviors instead of dreaming about “what ifs.” 

A previous Security Nation article highlighted how “Belief is the Core of Selling.” And while that is true – belief in yourself, your company, and your solutions is not enough. You’ll still encounter setbacks and sitting around “believing” without taking action will get you nowhere. There are plenty of instances when you need to snap out of it and get back on your horse. 

Passively waiting for leads to come to you will never deliver the same level of sales, satisfaction, and rewards as proactively pursuing them. Cold calling – something that almost everyone hates and few are good at – has all but been replaced by something we can all do – networking! With LinkedIn, you see people’s interests, job history, who they’re connected to, and much more, so that you can reach out to many more new contacts with confidence and a message that’s likely to resonate. Instead of leading with an irritating sales pitch, you can figure out a way to reach out based on something that will pique your target’s interest, based on a topic they’re interested in, or something you share in common. Using LinkedIn for networking is like going to a party where everyone is wearing a sign around their neck with personalized conversation starters. You’re not stuck talking about the weather. And remember, your goal here is to make good connections, that may lead to sales, but not to sell when making initial connections. That comes later. People aren’t receptive to a sales pitch until they’ve identified a real need. But once you’ve connected, you can stay on your contacts’ radar until the right time comes along. 

Think About the Future 

How do you stay committed to nurturing and expanding your network? Follow the thought process that Loretta in Moonstruck had when she tells Ronny to “Snap out of it.” She was thinking about her future. She’s engaged to Ronny’s brother, Johnny. Getting involved with Ronny will derail all her plans. She needs to focus and stay on track – no matter how much she may have been romanticizing about their previous night together!  

Thinking about your future is one of the strongest motivators that exists. When you can connect your present actions with your future outcomes, it becomes easier to stay focused and committed to your networking and sales efforts. 

As salespeople, we need to believe in ourselves, pay attention to our successes, and tie them to our goals in life. Feeling good about our achievements is important, but so is learning from our setbacks. When you’re tempted to feel sorry for yourself, take a moment to visualize that cold, hard, slap across the face. It’s time to snap out of it and recognize that setback are often actually an opportunity to adapt and grow!