Episode #124: How To Deal With The Dog Days Of Sales

When sales feel like a disaster spiral, what’s really happening?

Sales rarely move in a straight line. Orders get canceled without warning, promising clients vanish, and appointments dry up for every excuse imaginable. Meetings can turn into brutal interrogations where your proposal gets torn apart. It’s not just frustrating — it’s confidence-draining.

Mini-summary: Sales chaos is normal, but the emotional fallout can quietly destroy performance if you don’t respond fast.

When losses stack up, they don’t just damage results — they damage belief. You start wondering if you can sell at all. Your pipeline looks empty, time feels heavy, and pressure from leadership grows. Stress at home rises too, especially when income dips.

This is a psychological trap: the more defeated you feel, the less action you take, and the less action you take, the worse results get.

Mini-summary: Repeated rejection creates a mental fog that blocks activity — so clearing the fog requires deliberate action.

Go back to your original strategy and diagnose the breakdown. Two common causes show up again and again:

1. Over-concentration in too few clients. If your revenue depends on a small cluster, one cancellation can empty the cupboard.

2. Prospecting stops when delivery starts. Servicing current business feels urgent, so future business gets neglected — until it’s too late.

Mini-summary: Most sales slumps are strategic, not personal — fix the structure and confidence follows.

How do we restart momentum with existing clients?

Step one is referrals from people who already trust you.

Action plan:

1. Take a big sheet of paper.

2. Create a left column listing current and previous clients.

3. Add a right column for their industry.

4. Call them systematically and ask for referrals.

Don’t ask broad, lazy questions.
Avoid: “Do you know anyone who wants our product?”
That forces them to imagine the entire world, so they say “no.”

Instead, narrow their thinking to a visible group.
Example:
“Thinking about your fellow chamber of commerce members, are there companies facing similar issues to yours who would benefit from solving them?”

Then ask for a warm intro by email so you can follow up directly.

Mini-summary: Referral success depends on making it easy for clients to visualize who you mean.

How do we expand from referrals into high-probability prospects?

Right next to each client industry, list lookalike companies — firms in the same sector that aren’t customers yet.

Why this works:

• You’ve already seen the pains of one company in that industry.

• Similar companies likely share similar problems.

• Your insight becomes a natural reason for a meeting.

Then start calling that list.

Mini-summary: Industry lookalikes are the fastest way to rebuild pipeline because the value case is already proven.

Gatekeepers exist everywhere, but timing matters — especially in Japan.

Try calling when the decision maker is most reachable:

• Before 9:00am — managers are in, gatekeepers may not be.

• Just after 1:00pm — assistants are at lunch, managers return first.

• After 6:00pm — gatekeepers are gone, leaders may still be working.

Your odds of reaching a senior person rise sharply.

Mini-summary: Smart timing turns “blocked” calls into real conversations.

How do we build a fresh target list from scratch?

Grab another large sheet of paper.

Two-column method:

1. Column 1: Ideal companies you want to target.

2. Column 2: Anyone you know who can introduce you to decision makers there.

Call your connectors first. This creates credibility before you ever cold-call.

Expect heavy rejection in Japan — it’s a market cautious about unknown vendors and unfamiliar approaches.

Mini-summary: A structured target-and-connector list restores control even in high-rejection environments.

What credibility statement wins meetings fast?

Craft a short, high-trust opener that follows this structure:

1. What your company does (briefly).

2. A real client success story.

3. Concrete, verifiable results.

4. A humble invitation to explore fit.

5. A clear next step for scheduling.

Sample credibility statement:
“My name is Greg Story from Dale Carnegie Training. We are global soft skills training experts with over 100 years of history. Recently we supported XYZ company with sales training, and they achieved a 30% increase in sales. Maybe we could do something similar for your company — I’m not sure yet. To find out, could we meet this week, or would next week be better?”

Why it works:

• Authority + proof + humility feels trustworthy.

• You don’t pressure — you explore.

• You end with a simple scheduling choice.

Mini-summary: Credibility comes from proof + clarity + modest confidence, not hype.

No strategy guarantees success. But action changes the game:

• Activity increases meeting volume.

• Meetings create learning and visibility.

• Visibility produces opportunities.

• Opportunities restore results.

The real danger isn’t rejection — it’s inactivity.

Mini-summary: You don’t “think” your way out of a slump. You act your way out.

• Sales slumps are normal; the fix is strategic action, not self-blame.

• Start with referrals from current and past clients using narrow, visual prompts.

• Build lookalike prospect lists by industry to target high-probability buyers.

• Use timing, connectors, and a credibility statement to win meetings in Japan (日本 / Japan).

Founded in the U.S. in 1912, Dale Carnegie Training has supported individuals and companies worldwide for over a century in leadership, sales, presentation, executive coaching, and DEI. Our Tokyo office, established in 1963, has been empowering both Japanese (日本企業 / Japanese companies) and multinational (外資系企業 / multinational companies) corporate clients ever since.