There are two types of people in this world; those who tend to over think or those who tend to under think. Many people mistakenly apologize for over thinking situations. The act of over thinking is not bad, but when you over think could be-particularly in sales. Over thinking should be done in the preparation and practice stages of your sales career not during the actual performance. Think about it like this, if you were a quarterback and you were preparing for this week's opponent, you would prepare for every possible situation- contingency plans on top of contingency plans, and then you would practice, drill and rehearse all week long until it becomes second nature. Quarterbacks have contingency plans to safeguard against a blown play. If he’s throwing a pass and his number one receiver is not open, he will check to a second and third receiver as options; as a last resort he decide to throw a “hot route” (short pass) or throw the ball away in order to avoid a sack. There are other times when the quarterback gets to the line of scrimmage and doesn’t like the coverage he is seeing and has to check out of the called play and run another one that best suits what he is seeing.

In sales, you have to have contingency plans. Every deal is as unique as a thumbprint and because you are contending with human nature, your customers will not all close in a textbook fashion. Many sales are blown each day because salespeople don’t have contingency plans. If you run into an obstacle, you have to have a contingency plan and if that contingency plan doesn't work, you have to check into another (asking more specific questions) and another (choosing a different model) -you may even have to throw to your hot route (T.O.) in an effort to gain some sort of movement. Then there are times when you will work with a customer and have to call an (mental) audible and change strategies all together because of an unforeseen circumstance(s). Having contingency plans will prevent you from running a “busted play” (i.e. blown sale).

 Don't be apologetic if you tend to over think things, just make sure you over think them during your preparation stages of a sale and not during the actual performance, that way when you're selling, and something goes wrong (as it inevitably does), your contingency plans will kick in naturally because of all of the relentless practicing, drilling and rehearsing that lead up to your opportunity. You will not only feel secure about your efforts, but also will also look confident, giving your customers assurances that you have things under control. Or you could just pick the alternative; that of a deer frozen in his tracks staring at its fate-the oncoming headlights of a speeding truck.  I'll see you next time on the black top!