Study Shows Slumps Precede Breakthroughs 

Slumps are part of executive life the way mountains dot the landscape and can be quite discouraging. But when you better understand their nature, you can sail through them smoothly onto a new path of success. It may not seem like sales slumps are positive moments, but we’ve discovered otherwise. An article in Inc. Magazine explains the following facts about slumps and how to beat them.

1. Recognize That Sales Slumps Are Normal

Statistically speaking, sales slumps are absolutely normal. Most are the result of random chance. Understanding and accepting this can ease one's anxiety about slumps. In fact, most peak sales performances also result from random chance. So, keep working hard and plowing ahead, even in the middle of a slump, and you'll inevitably encounter a winning streak.

2. The Plateau Effect: Part Of The Process

In order to understand how to deal with sales slumps, it’s important to recognize what’s called the “plateau effect” because slumps often occur after a period of rapid growth followed by a period of stagnant sales, or a plateau. According to Inc., “such slumps are not just normal but also a reason to celebrate.” Hm. How could this be?

Well, sales results are the product of sales skills. And periods of rapid sales growth typically signify a rapid increase in sales skills, whether individually or of a team. But sales skills, like all human skills, tend to improve in “fits and starts,” and thus a plateau is actually the “process of integrating new skills into daily behavior.”

What this means is that a slump after a plateau is totally normal and is actually a sign that the human brain is preparing itself to “step its game up”, i.e. experience another huge breakthrough.

What To Do With This Knowledge

The first thing to help you overcome a slump is to accept the two tenets above. Once you understand the true nature of a slump, you can reframe your perception of it so that you no longer fear it or suffer through it, but rather embrace it and anticipate the positive breakthrough which will inevitably occur immediately after. Lest you think it’s that simple, let us qualify that statement -- embrace the slump and anticipate the positive breakthrough which will inevitably occur so long as you continue to work through it.

The best way to continue to work through a slump, overcome it, and realize a new period of success, is to keep yourself highly motivated. How?

Inc. suggests setting goals that inspire you every day, and constantly adjusting these goals so that the inspiration and motivation they deliver don’t decrease in intensity. What motivated you today may not be what motivated you yesterday, and it may not be what will motivate you in the future.

So the long and short of it is this: to achieve success, constantly redefine what it means for you, and keep grinding through the slumps, because they’re not bottomless pits but rather spring-loaded platforms preparing to propel you ever upward.

Related: Bay Area Limo Delivers Best SFO Travel Option

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net