All through my teenage years I competed in football, weightlifting and etc. I listened to my coaches tell me to give it 110%.Now that I think about this, it isn't possible to give more than 100%. In fact it isn't really possible to give 100%. To give 100% means that every ounce of your being is used to accomplish whatever you've set out to accomplish. I don't think anyone will give 100% of anything for anyone.

I bet by now you are wondering what the heck am I talking about, aren't you? Here is my point. I work with salespeople on a day to day basis. No matter how gifted or committed my sales force is they all manage to come up with excuses as to why a sale didn't take place.

Customers are very well trained, or are they? They all have a good story when they come in to shop for an RV, car, or whatever they are looking for. Customer's always have an excuse and won't hesitate to tell the salesperson why they have no intention of buying today.

The excuses range from, "I just started to look" to "We never do anything on the same day." When a customer has an excuse like this, it is easy for the salesperson to give up and believe that there is nothing they can do to change the situation. The salesperson mentally puts his "selling shoes" on the shelf. He will tell himself that it’s ok not to try.

Here is another example, unrelated to selling, but hopefully will help make my point. I've watched many football games where the receiver catches the ball down the field, heading for a touchdown, when suddenly the line backer that missed the play gets a "leg cramp!" By getting a leg cramp at this very moment, it relieves him from the responsibility of stopping the touchdown. I call this the "losers limp!"

How many salespeople develop what I call the "losers limp" when they learn the customer has an excuse as to why they can't buy today. It’s a very common occurrence in sales. I bet you are asking yourself right now, what can we do about it, aren't you?

Think about it like this. Imagine that you were hanging over a cliff by a vine. If you let go of that vine, you will drop some 200' to your death! That’s a scary thought, isn't it? So what would you do in that circumstance? Would you try a little harder if you knew you were going to die? I've seen people do remarkable things when their life was on the line. Their minds are clearer; they think quickly and have enormous strength. If we said to ourselves “I’m going to act like my life depends on this sale" every time we had a customer, my guess is that we would succeed a lot more often, wouldn't we?

Don’t give up when the customer brings in an excuse. Use your creative mind and talk to your manager. Come up with a game plan to overcome what the customer throws at you.

Go get em and happy selling!