We all procrastinate from time to time, in all sorts of ways. Have you ever put off something you were excited about and eager to do, just because you couldn’t be bothered? No, neither have most people and therein lays the secret; we procrastinate because:

Your logic says – you should do this!

Your emotion says – but I don’t want to do that!

That in a nutshell is why we all have times when we procrastinate; it’s a battle between what we logically believe to be the thing to do and our emotional desire to do something different.

In sales this can kill sales deals quicker than almost anything. Perhaps you have to call the sales client and tell them that you can’t deliver on the date you promised (which was the sales deal maker) it will take a further two days. You know they’re going to give you a hard time and you believe it will lose you the sales deal, so you put it off until tomorrow and as we all know, tomorrow never actually arrives (because today is the tomorrow of yesterday). Eventually of course you convince yourself that it’s too late to call (the actual sales deal breaker) and guess what? Yes, the client buys from someone else!

Imagine though a different scenario. You have to tell the sales client that you can’t deliver on the requested date, you find something you can give away free, an industry report, or a free gift, or a discount on his next order, anything to show you’re sincere in your apology and still value the sales custom.

You pick up the phone and instead of saying “I’m sorry we can’t make the delivery date I promised so I guess you want to cancel” you say instead “Hi, I’ve got some great news! We can deliver the product on (here you give the date) and because of that I’m including (whatever you’ve come with) for you as a thank you.”

In the majority of cases you will still get the sales deal and even if you don’t get this one, you’ve maintained a professional attitude and if you give them the gift anyway, they will be prepared to see you again when they want to re-order.

But how do you motivate yourself to actually make the call? One way isI was working away and listening to the radio this morning and ended up stopping and taking notes on what the businessman Gerry Harvey of Australia's Harvey Norman had to say about what makes for a great sales person.

Anyone who is building their own business knows that being good at sales is vital for growth and success but many are daunted by doing the selling.

Gerry thinks there are far more people out in the world that would be great salesmen and saleswomen but just don't know that they are because they have not given it a go.

He told the story of employing a young woman straight out of university after completing her degree, achieving at extra curricula endeavors and ready to start her corporate life. Gerry said he would take her on, mentor her weekly as long as she did what he said and that she would have to start on the sales floor for a year. This she initially baulked at but agreed to.

She was assigned to a store with some of the best sales staff of the company and with months she was top of the sales and had Gerry and the store manager stumped how a young person with no sales training could beat other experienced and talented sales people.

So they checked out her method and it was the same tried and tested way that Gerry developed for himself. Like him, she had figured out how to sell the natural way. So how did she do it? Easy, by:

1. being genuine with customers so people feel comfortable.

2. listening to what the customer is saying so to figure out what they want, why they want it and what needs looking after as this makes it easy to offer the right product (or service).

3. good communication skills so customers understood the information being given to them and felt heard. This also includes approaching people to offer service and being available to help.

4. reasonable product knowledge level - knew enough to answer questions and when to get more information but not too much so that customers were inundated with too much information.

5. looks people in the eye so comes across as honest and reliable.

People become customers when they trust what you, what you say and the product meets their needs. Being pushy creates distrust, being genuine and listening builds trust.

So you can be a successful sales person without formal training, just by being open and genuine with customers. The key is in putting yourself in the customer's shoes and treating them as you would want to be treated - honestly, openly and kindly. to bribe yourself. Yes, that’s right, bribe yourself! Write down what you need to do, (find a free giveaway, and make the call) and then write down the reward you’ll give yourself once it’s done! Sign the paper as if you were signing a contract and place it somewhere prominent so you can see the reward you’ll be getting once the job is done.

There are of course many other ways you can stop procrastinating and make more sales, be creative!