Sales is one of the career paths where a person with ADHD can truly thrive. As entrepreneurs with ADHD, we are naturally passionate and enthusiastic about what we do and this makes it much easier to sell.
The beauty of being a great salesperson is you are measured by your sales numbers rather than the time you spend sitting at a desk. As long as you can get consistently close sales, you enjoy a lot of autonomy to have a work-life balance that works your unique ADHD brain.
But the constant rejection in sales can sting, especially if you struggle with what’s called rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD).
RSD is now thought to be common among adults with ADHD and it interferes with your ability to regulate your emotional responses to feelings of failure and rejection. Basically, you take things personally even when you know it isn’t personal.
Without understanding the unique ways you experience rejection sensitive dysphoria and developing strategies to overcome your negative self-talk patterns, you can find yourself in a recurring cycle of negative self-talk, particularly on the days when you’re feeling tired, burnt out and not closing many sales.
The reality is that on the entrepreneurial rollercoaster, your highs are high and your lows can get very low so learning how to better deal with rejection sensitive dysphoria can make you much better at selling with ADHD.
Overcoming “Sales” Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria:
One of the best advice I’ve ever received in business is the fortune is in the follow up.
The problem is, when you have ADHD and rejection sensitive dysphoria it can be difficult to consistently follow up and face more rejection.
If you want to get really good at selling with ADHD so you can maintain your mental health and thrive in your business then here are a few of my best tips for overcoming rejection sensitive dysphoria:
1. Meditate or 5-10 minutes every morning.
I have that the best way to identify negative self-talk patterns and loosen their grip is with a daily meditation practice.
Find a form of meditation that works for your ADHD. For me, it’s a morning meditation session and taking daily mindful walks throughout my day to let go of stress, rejection and tension that can build up.
2. Practice visualization before your sales calls.
Before important sales call, I recommend doing a short 1-2 meditation or breathwork session to clear your mind and then visualize the process you will follow during the sales call to close the deal.
Visualizing the process and positive outcome we desire can help make us feel more confident and relaxed when you are talking to a prospect on the phone or Zoom.
3. Be kind to yourself and unplug from work more.
People with ADHD need work-life balance because if we work long hours without enough breaks, we can much more easily burnout than neurotypical people.
Realize that the nature of ADHD is your energy and attention span will ebb and flow. Some days you may put in a solid 8 hours of work, other days you may only do 2-3 hours. Be flexible and kind to yourself and allow yourself to create a schedule that works for your ADHD brain.
4. Go for a short mindful walk when you’re in a funk.
When you’re struggling with negative self-talk, I highly recommend taking a break and going for a short walk or jog outside.
Just a short walk and being outside in the natural world can do wonders for reducing rumination. Take your mind off your problems by grounding yourself in the senses by noticing 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell and how being outdoors in nature makes you feel.
5. Practice positive self-talk to quickly brush off rejection.
Reminder yourself that with each no, you’re closer to a yes. However, this can be especially hard when you’re starting out in sales or in business and not having a lot of success.
This is why it’s good to write out your sales and have a vision map that visually displays your goals over your desk to remind yourself of your creative vision when the going gets tough. It can also help to identify your negative self-talk patterns and then write out clear statements or affirmations that reframe them that you can use when you use to remind yourself when needed.
6. Develop a support network of other entrepreneurs with ADHD.
The biggest factor in success is who you surround yourself with. So many important things in business like confidence and mindset are best learned by spending time in conversation with successful entrepreneurs.
I recommend building a strong support network of other people in entrepreneurship and sales, ideally, who also have ADHD so you can talk about your challenges. You can also find it helpful to find a therapist or coach who specializes in the unique challenges of the ADHD brain.
7. Develop automated business systems and a CRM to stay organized.
It’s important to streamline your business processes to simplify your lead generation, help prospects prepare for sales calls and then have a step-by-step process that you can use to follow up with prospects that haven’t purchased yet.
To set up these business systems, I use a tool called HighLevel with my coaching clients. It makes it easy to test and optimize the sales funnel, send out email autoresponders to get more people to show up prepared for sales calls and it makes it easy for me to track my follow-up and deliver additional educational resources to help people make a more informed decision.
