Are These 4 Beliefs Keeping You Broke in Home Improvement Sales?

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Four Beliefs That Keep Salespeople Poor

I have been doing home improvement sales as a salesperson, sales manager, and trainer for 35 years and have been in over 16,000 homes.  Here are four belief systems that I noticed salespeople have that keep them poor in this business. Or keep them in what I call the sucker trap. They make 60-80k a year which is barely enough to keep them going but in my mind nowhere justifies the hard work and hours and BS that can come with a job like this. It’s like you are in quicksand up to your waist and stopped sinking. Not going to die but still stuck.  If you are in this business you deserve 6 figures a year minimum. Period.

Belief #1: “Luck Has Something to Do With It”

The Truth: It’s All About Skill, Not Luck

The first belief that keeps you poor is that.. luck has something to do with this. That’s why I always say to salespeople “I would wish you luck but luck has nothing to do with this.” 😊 It’s based on your skill set. Yes, we run into people who are not lucid, think 2 plus 2 is 3, or that they can buy a new car for $500, etc. but what happens to you happens to everyone. That’s why there’s luck in poker but why do the same people win the world championships over and over again?  It’s not what happens to you but what you do with it. That means when you do get the good shot you sell it and can convert more of the so-called bad leads than other people.

The Problem with Superstition

People who do this type of sales can be superstitious. I was one of them. I had my lucky tie. My daily precall routine ritual that I thought gave me luck. What it really is that if you believe it it becomes true. I hear salespeople say things like “I don’t want to jinx my winning streak... A lot of times it’s because when you are new your self-esteem is lower and you don’t give yourself enough credit for your wins. You don’t realize that what’s making you sell is the same thing that keeps other people from selling. Themselves. If anything luck is when preparedness meets opportunity. Translation you run a lead.

Belief #2: “It’s Not My Fault”

The Truth: You Must Take 100% Responsibility

That leads to the second belief or nonbelief depending on how you look at it. You don’t take 100% responsibility for your results and therefore your life.  The reason your paycheck sucks is because you suck. Not as a person, father, sister, or friend but you suck as a salesperson. There is no other reason you are not successful. Until you stop blaming the leads, your manager, your prices, and life in general you won’t take responsibility for your results and therefore you won’t do anything to change it. Why would you change if it’s not your fault?

Control Equals Confidence

Also, your attitude will be poor because you will feel like a victim and not in control of your life. People are positive to the extent they feel they are in control of their results and lives. No control= poor attitude Total control = great attitude. You need to take responsibility and when do you finally grab the steering wheel and go where you want vs hands off the wheel and an accident is a given.

Belief #3: “I Don’t Need to Improve”

The Truth: You’re Not Making Enough Because You’re Not Good Enough

The third belief is that you don’t believe in self-improvement. This will happen if you don’t take responsibility. The reason you don’t make enough is that you aren’t good enough.  So if you are not making money because you aren’t good enough the only way for you to get better is to work harder on yourself than on the job. The job will never get easier, the leads won’t get better, and the customers won’t get easier. The only controllable thing to do is for you to get better.

Stop Saying “It’s Just a Numbers Game”

Stop saying it’s just a numbers game. Just run more leads and it will all work out. That’s like saying we lose money on every sale but we will make it up in the volume.  If you sell 1 out of ten that’s a number that will make you poor. If you sell 5 out of ten you are doing better. And if you sell 5 out of ten why don’t you want to sell 7 out of ten? That’s the only number that makes sense. Running more leads won’t mean anything unless you somehow think that then the bad leads will go away and the good ones will appear. That’s crazy. To me, if you motivate an idiot all you will have is a motivated idiot. Sorry, but you can tell I am passionate about this.

Learning Is a Lifelong Process

This is a wonderful job if you do it right but if don’t it is the worst job in the world. Long hours, driving, and no money. I am frustrated when I see people not take advantage of one of the best jobs around because they don’t understand the rules. Or they do understand but their ego insists on doing it their way. If you want to know how that’s working out look at your paycheck.  There are only two ways to get better through experience ie trial and error or from learning from someone else who already paid the dues for you. Learning by trial and error doing commission sales takes too long.

Every day you are in the car and should be listening to podcasts, reading, or doing something to make yourself better. I don’t care how long you have been doing this. You are never there. Stop learning is like saying you don’t want to make more money than you are right now. There is another thing about knowledge which is like there is a hole in your brain where the knowledge you have is constantly leaking out. How many times have you heard something where you said “I forgot all about that” or I used to do that but I stopped? You have to always learn more to get better and replenish the knowledge that is leaking out.

Belief #4: “There’s Always Tomorrow”

The Truth: Urgency Wins the Long Game

The fourth belief that will keep you poor is that there is always tomorrow. You have no sense of urgency. Remember that today is yesterday's tomorrow. I always see people planning to get better and do the things they need but they delay in getting started. Usually, they wait until they hit the wall and life becomes so bad that they can’t pay rent or mortgage and become desperate. That’s a difficult hole to dig yourself out of. One reason for this is that they don’t understand how to use and have clear-cut goals. Something that keeps them motivated over the long run.

Use Goals to Create Desire, Not Just Fear

People are motivated by two things fear and desire and if you don’t use goals to motivate you by desire then you default to being motivated by fear. What that means is until you get scared and desperate enough you won’t do anything. It is also a reason people aren’t consistent because if they are motivated by fear and then kick it into gear then when they make some money the fear dissipates and they slack off again. Then they don’t do anything until they start to lose again and it is a vicious cycle. Up and down. Using goals and being motivated by desire is more consistent. This is a job where you have to be motivated consistently over the long run. It’s like playing a professional basketball game every single day and having that intensity for years. Fear won’t do that but goals will. Another reason you don’t understand urgency is that doesn’t mean what’s happening right now but over the long run of your career doing home improvement sales.

Compress Time to Buy Back Life

To me, there is an urgency to succeed even if I have money because it allows me to compress time and have more of it to enjoy life. In every company, some people make 2 or 3 times as much as other salespeople. That is a lot of time For example if someone makes 150k a year and you make 75k a year then they are making money at twice the rate as you. That means they could work one year then take the whole next year off and make the same amount of money you had to work two full years to make. Internalize that they work one year and can take another off. You work two full years. Both make the same amount of money. If that doesn’t motivate and create urgency for you I don’t know what would.

Final Thoughts

I hope some of this helps you make more money and if you want more check out my post on Failure is Good or the playlist on Home Improvement sales techniques listed above. Happy Selling