Why We Need Mindfulness Techniques Before a Sales Meeting
People who work in sales only succeed when they have quality interactions with clients. If you can’t close a deal, then you won’t get a fee, which means that you can’t pay the mortgage or put food on the table. This isn’t a place that annuity sellers want to be. However, in the face of competition, it’s there as a possibility. As we get older, we find it more difficult to manage life’s stressors. Our bodies are aging, and our kids need different things from us. We also tend to sleep less while we should get at least 7 to 8 hours of quality sleep per night. With all of this in mind, it makes sense that we should set ourselves up for success by adopting habits that make us feel healthy, strong, and sharp of mind. Here, I discuss the importance of using mindfulness techniques before a sales meeting because these require us to be at our very best. What It Looks Like You are sitting there at your laptop and saying to yourself: “This writer is crazy. Does he or she actually sell life insurance annuities to clients?” I assure you that I am in the very same industry, and I truly believe that mindfulness techniques make us better sellers. I recommend that people build mindfulness meditation into their daily routine, which could even include putting reminders on your Microsoft Outlook calendar or on your smartphone. With a mobile app like Calm, you can schedule alerts to tell yourself it’s time to meditate. I tend to need this alert every day about 11:00 am. I am into the thick of my day, and I am starting to stress out. There’s still an hour or two remaining until I break for lunch. I feel overwhelmed and need to relax my mind and body. I need to refocus my neurons on what I’m doing in the present moment. That’s when I close the door to my office, fire up YouTube on the desktop for a guided meditation, or just watch the inhale and exhale icons on my Calm app. What It Feels Like If you’ve ever been to a yoga class, you know that focused breathing works wonders for the body. I used to go to these classes years ago, but, it was mostly for time away from my youngsters and for the social relationships I formed with other yoga students. Now, I really need to go to yoga class, but it’s not something that I will get up two hours earlier to do before work. What does it feel like to do mindfulness meditation? When I close my eyes, I think about the fact that my mind, body, and spirit have reached a point of overload. I have too many things to concentrate on and negative thoughts won’t stop nagging at me. I tell myself this: “If I can just make two more phone calls or check my emails again, I’ll be able to put those thoughts aside.” I take the first inhalation, hold my breath, and then release it. I feel a bit of tension leave my body. Each breath makes me feel better. Suddenly, the day seems less daunting. I will be able to smile and tell the next client why she needs to consider a fixed rate annuity because she doesn’t like risking her money any more than she needs to. I will also steer her away from high-return investment options because she’ll be furious if one of them loses money. Think About Your Clients If you take 1 to 5 minutes to calm your body with meditation before a sales meeting, you can relieve tension from your being. Your face will look less strained, your shoulders will stoop forward less, you will sit up straighter, and you will feel less pain in your calves. Each of us carries stress in different parts of our bodies. If you’re so stiff that you look awkward to clients (even constipated or anxious), do a full-body stretch before showing them into the sales meeting. These steps may seem silly at first, but they can make a difference in how calm you feel. Your goal is to appear friendly and helpful so you can sell more products to clients. People want to learn about annuity products from a salesperson who is knowledgeable, of course, but also from someone who understands their needs.
Be Mindful of Sleep and Exercise Habits Because They Affect Your Sales Performance
Annuity sellers are like everybody else. We have to use our common sense when it comes to eating better, sleeping right, and exercising. Any change in our lifestyle (good or bad) can affect our work. When we suspect that something might be wrong with our bodies, we tend to consult a medical provider. At the medical appointment, we expect immediate results, and we desire to return to normal with as expenditure of effort as possible. What our bodies tell us is crucial, but we cannot expect to stay healthy over the long term without changing daily habits. The Prevalence of Sleep Apnea One of the things we’ve read much about in recent years is when people have trouble sleeping. It interrupts everything they do. Many adults suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome, but they don’t know it. This could explain why you often fall asleep at your desk. People with OSA may have symptoms such as loud snoring, daytime sleepiness, and daytime fatigue. They may stop breathing while asleep and/or make jerking motions. After they resume breathing again, they may experience another fit. People with multiple episodes like these could have mild, moderate, or severe OSA, which calls for medical treatment. The Background on Sleep Apnea According to a study published by the American Thoracic Society, there are estimates that 3 percent to 7 percent of the general population has a form of OSA. “Increasingly, obstructive sleep apnea is also being recognized as an independent risk factor for several clinical consequences, including systemic hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and abnormal glucose metabolism.” What’s more, people with certain risk factors have a higher chance of developing this syndrome (i.e. age, being of the male sex, obesity, family history, menopause, craniofacial abnormalities, and using alcohol or tobacco). If you know someone with loud snoring or trouble breathing during sleep, you could suggest seeing a medical provider. A medical physician determines if a patient should be evaluated through polysomnography, also called a sleep study. Exercise Can Help As we get older, it’s important to use exercise as a way to keep our bodies strong and to prevent disease. One meta-analysis study published in Lung found “a statistically significant effect of exercise in reducing the severity of sleep apnea in patients with OSA with minimal changes in body weight.” This study also found that the important effects of exercise on cardiorespiratory fitness, daytime sleepiness, and sleep efficiency suggest the potential benefit of exercise in treating OSA. If you are feeling sluggish, you want to get to the root cause. If you aren’t sleeping right, you might see your sales go down, but you can also develop other health problems. Get Ready and Feel Positive The best thing that people with a suspected medical condition like sleep apnea can do is to seek early intervention. As an annuity seller, I would like to think that I could choose the eating, sleeping, and exercise habits that will help me to live a long and fulfilling life. However, I know that my sales job makes it important to find a balance. Of course, I will do my best to follow my physician’s advice. When I take care of “me,” whether that is getting some extra sleep each night before work or hitting the gym four days a week, I should be ready to sell more policies. My brain will be more alert, and I will have more energy to give to my clients. How else will I help them choose the best annuity product for their specific situation? If they talk to me now, their needs might be different from when they called me a year ago and decided to wait. I want to be ready!