How to Use Criticism To Your Advantage

You’ve probably had to deal with professional criticism at some point (or often) in your sales career.

In such a fast-paced, high-pressure profession that is continuously focused on results, we are often subject to our fair share of criticism from colleagues, managers, clients, and prospects.

If you want to be successful in sales, you must train yourself to take criticism and use it to your advantage. ← Click To Tweet

It’s easy to get wrapped up in your faults when others are pointing them out to you. But, there are steps you can take to efficiently move past the negativity and actually create success through the criticism that you receive.

1. Change The Definition

Remove the word “criticism” from your vocabulary and replace it with the word “feedback.”  Changing your mindset about the feedback that you receive helps turn the situation from a negative to a positive.

Don’t struggle with feedback from your leaders or clients, try to understand their point of view and use that knowledge to improve yourself. If you’re constantly losing paperwork, it may be a sign that your organization needs improvement. If your client mentions value that your competitor offers and you currently do not, perhaps you can discover new opportunities for your business as well.

Notice that simply by changing the definition of the issue, you go from a state of fault to a state of improvement.

2. You’re Not Alone

Understand that any feedback you receive has likely been relayed to many of your colleagues and fellow salespeople as well. We all have and will receive feedback from multiple sources throughout our careers.

You do not have to shoot for perfection. You simply need to approach your sales career with a willingness to learn and improve.

3. Take Action

Learning from the feedback you receive is a wonderful thing. It’s an important first step! However, any knowledge that you acquire is useless unless you put it into motion.

If you have discovered that your organization skills need improvement, take steps to improve them! If you have learned that you need to communicate more effectively, start researching ways to improve your communication!

By using the feedback you receive as learning experiences, you break down any tension you may be feeling and enter a state of improvement. The most successful sales professionals are simply the ones who made mistakes, received feedback, and took positive action to enhance their skills!

What’s one piece of feedback you have received and improved upon in the past?

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