ADD is a common sales rep thing. It is really so funny. I had this guy who goes, there are three common traits in salespeople. He goes, they have ADD, they’re money-driven, and they are social or something like that. It’s interesting. So, when you deal with these people that keep getting derailed like the discipline and the consistency with an ADD person, there are some conflicts there. Like, how do you help an individual when they seem to always get derailed? You’re like dude, just do the thing every day and they’re like I try! How do you how do you help people? If I’m a manager, I like my people to be disciplined and I like myself to be disciplined. What do I do?
Make It Easier
There are a few things you can do. The first one is, to make it easier. People typically don’t stick with things because they’re either difficult or it’s just too much. It’s like, I’ve got my perfect morning routine, right? I’m doing the whole miracle morning and it’s like, but if one of those things gets thrown off, then the whole day shot. And then it’s like, okay well, let’s start again next week or something. But, if you just pick one thing to do it is much easier. Like, what’s one thing that you can do every day? Just simplify it. You talked about the 80/20 rule. Like, you’re going to get 80 percent of the benefits from 20 of the things you’re doing. So, if you just choose what you can do. Say, ok, I’m going to do one piece of that morning routine. The one that’s going to give me the 80 then they’re going to be much more likely to do it.
Shift Perspective
The other piece is, you know, ADD is such an interesting thing because, I don’t know if you’ve read any of the books that call it a superpower, but people with ADD can do things often that other people either can’t or are unwilling to do. That especially applies in sales. So, I think a lot of times people look at it as like this a curse or like they can’t do certain things or they are frustrated when they get thrown off. But, the reality is, it’s actually a superpower that you can use to you just need to shift your perspective on it. Learn to view ADD as a good thing in your life and understand how to play it to your advantage. ADD has so many benefits, but it is your job to see those instead of feeling like you are a victim of uncontrollable circumstances.
Be OK with Getting Thrown Off
I think another simple thing is just like being okay with being thrown off. I think there is so much judgment there. It causes those of us who have ADD to feel bad. There is a stigma with ADD that simply isn’t true. We feel guilty, we feel like we’ve screwed up, we’ve made a mistake, we’ve done the wrong thing, and something’s wrong with us. But, the reality is like, that happens to everybody. When you get thrown off, acknowledge it. Be like oh, it’s just like meditation like, I meditate every day and I suck at it. I seriously lay there and I’m doing the things and I’m like, I haven’t even paid attention I’ve been off on my to-do list for the last two minutes. But, it’s okay because now I’m going to bring it back and I’m going to pay attention to my next two breaths and then I’m going to be off thinking about my to-do list again, but then I’ll bring it back right and I think there’s a big piece to like being okay with making mistakes yeah and just having a specific place to come back to as soon as you realize that you’re off.
Let Go Of Perfection
It’s almost, I would say and maybe correct me if I’m wrong, but ADD isn’t an impediment to success. It gets the superpower, in my opinion, like I’m so happy that I can juggle and move on and quick decisions and and act, but I almost think it’s this attachment to perfection that I think is really a bigger roadblock. It’s the OCD that could hurt you in sales. It’s like, okay, until I have the perfect script I can’t go out and sell. But, it’s like dude, no perfect customer is responding to perfect scripts. So, therefore just talk. Be you, you know? Don’t say I don’t know the lines yet or I don’t know so much about the product, there’s always more to learn about the product. They’re going to ask you a question that’s totally relevant to what you studied about the product and then what? There is no perfection when it comes to this. It is different every time. I’ve looked at it every which way. There are so many different ways I’ve closed deals. I mean, sometimes it’s a high five at the end and sometimes I’m sly and smooth and they’re like we just did this and I’m like, yep. I just have hope they don’t say no, you know what I mean? It’s like in the back your head like, it’s working and then sometimes you walk yourself out of that house and you’re just kicking yourself and you’re like wow, that didn’t work, this totally backfired, you know what I mean? I think the element of ADD is such a superpower in sales it’s just the OCD that I tell people to beware of.
Realize ADD Is A Superpower
Here is where ADD is the superpower. So, you are out selling and you think it’s going to be this certain way. But, instead of like that one customer you thought was going to call you back, they let you down and never called you back. But, it turns out that the next door who was like a complete dick is the one who is all of a sudden like yeah, fine, let’s just do it. You’re thinking wow, I was so dead set on Timmy buying, and all of a sudden Steve bought it. But, how many people would have been hung up on the person they for sure thought was going to buy, but didn’t, and they aren’t skipping to the next guy? So, ADD really plays a key role here in not getting hung up on one person buying and being able to move to the next thing before the other one is finished. It’s just so fun, sales. Ya know? There is no perfectness to it and that’s maybe another reason why ADD is the superpower. I love this conversation.
