By Victor Antonio, BSEE, MBA

Let me say right off that bat that I’m an objectivist by philosophy; a hardcore realist who doesn’t believe in luck, fate, delusions of grandeur or success without effort.  I see things for what they are and I try not to superimpose unrealistic expectations on anything.  That said, I’d like to share with you a motivational technique I use that borders on the ethereal and dare I say, the metaphysical.

Many years ago I picked up book by Maxwell Maltz called Psycho-Cybernetics written in 1960.  If you haven’t read it, do yourself a favor and get it.  In fact, the well known motivator Anthony Robbins garnered many of his techniques and practices from this book and others in the field of what is known as Neural Linguistic Programming (NLP) .  

In Maltz’s book there is a Chapter titled, “That Winning Feeling” which discusses how we are able to recall certain feelings of elation.   Did you know that when you experience something, a pattern of neurons creates an ‘electronic track’ that can be ‘replayed’ if the right stimulus is provided.  

For example, have you ever smelled something that brought back vivid memories of a time and place in your past?  Have you ever heard a song that took you back to the moment in time when you first heard it?  Have you ever witnessed an event that brought back memories of a similar event in your life?  When you smell, hear or see something, these are external stimuli that recall recorded events called “Engrams”; little electronic recordings stored deep in our gray matter.

Maltz recommends that if we want to ‘relive’ a moment, what we need to do is close our eyes, see the event in your mind’s eye and try to recall as much of the context of the situation.  This technique is called visualization.  By doing this you will begin to ‘replay’ the feelings you felt that day.  

In sales, there are times when we feel like someone just shot our dog.  We feel down, depressed, defeated and on the verge of saying, “To hell with being in sales!”  This may come about because you lost a major deal, can’t get clients to return your phone calls or you’re simply having a crappy day where everything you touch turns to lead.  It is during these moments that we need a boost, a mental energy drink that will bring back our confidence and fortify our resiliency.   So wouldn’t it be nice to be able to recall feelings of success or a heightened state of euphoria at a moments notice to give us that burst of confidence we need?  

In the field of NLP there is a technique called ‘Anchoring’ which allows you to anchor in your mind a successful moment in the past and, using a simple gesture, be able to recall that “successful feeling” when you need it the most.  I chided this technique as flim-flam when I first read about it.  Since then, I’ve come to accept it as having some merit.  Let me explain.

One day while preparing for a major speech which was to occur a few days out, I was feeling very confident about my abilities.  I thought to myself, “Man, I hope I have this much confidence on that day.”  I then thought about this anchoring technique and decided now would be a good time to try it out.  So what I did was choose an “anchor” that I would be able to use to recall this ‘highly confident state’.   I decided to point my index finger towards the ground as my anchor.  The simple act of pointing my finger towards the ground was the ‘anchor’ (i.e., gesture or stimuli) I would use to recall this highly confident state.  

When the day of the speech arrived, moments before I went on stage, I decided to use my anchor (gesture) to recall my highly confident state.  Did it work?  Well, what happened next could have been purely psychological and coincidental.  I don’t know.   After pointing my finger to the ground I felt an immediate rush and a surge of energy.  My mood quickly shifty from nervousness to ‘I can do this’ within seconds.

Does anchoring work?  It does for me!  It’s been almost five years since I anchored myself (point finger to the ground) to a highly confident state and to this day, right before I speak, you’ll see me point my index finger towards the ground.  It has become part of my presentation preparation ritual.  

If you’re in sales, why not try it yourself.  The next time you’re in a highly confident state after closing a large sale or landing a large client, create an anchor.  Use whatever gesture you feel comfortable with.  I’ve seen people touch their index finger to their thumb (like the OK sign) as an anchor.  Some squeeze their left palm with their right thumb and index finger.  Whatever gesture makes you feel comfortable.  My only suggestion would be to make sure the gesture you use seems normal so it doesn’t draw too much attention.

Try it!  You have nothing to lose and a lot to gain if the technique works for you.   Selling is about staying positive and any small advantage helps!   

Victor Antonio, Sales Influence