Mindset or Technique?
When it comes to selling, most salespeople are concerned about technique. The focus and emphasis for salespeople in most companies and professions are about product knowledge, scripting, rapport and relationship building, presentation, customer service, etc. All of that is important and must be highly developed if you want to be great at selling. However, there’s something even more important that must come first!
A proper mindset is paramount in sales. You can develop a wonderful skillset, and if you don’t have a proper mindset, the skillset is for nothing. Everyone knows that mental attitude is the key to success in sales and in life. Your prospects and clients will ask themselves two questions from the very first time they meet you. “Will this be fun?” and, “Will this be worth my time?” If the answer to either of those questions is no, then you’ll get brushed off and never have the opportunity to sell anything to those people.
There’s an energy, oftentimes subliminal, that passes between a salesperson and a prospect. You’ve probably had the experience of having someone have a sales conversation with you, where the salesperson technically did a good job of explaining the product or service, it was something you wanted, and she asked you to buy. And you just had a little nagging feeling that something just wasn’t quite right. So, you made an excuse and didn’t buy from that salesperson. You picked up an energy or vibe from the salesperson that indicated a somewhat-less-than- positive mindset, so you declined.
So, here are the first of mindset considerations:
You must believe totally in yourself. When you think about yourself as a salesperson, how proud are you of what you do? How good do you feel you are at it? How much do you like yourself? How much do you think other people like you? If you aren’t proud of yourself, or you say, “I’m just not a salesperson.” or if you think people don’t like you very much because you think there isn’t much to like, your chances of successfully selling consistently are nil.
You must believe in your company. How do you feel about your company? How proud are you to work for them and represent them? Do you believe they have the customer’s best interest at heart, and that service to the client is the top priority, or do you think they’re ripping people off? Do you appreciate the support they give to you and the way they treat you as an employee, or do you often complain about their policies and procedures? If you’re not proud of your company and 100% committed to their business practices, you need to find another company to represent. One about which you can feel great. If you’re not completely enthusiastic about your company, even if you try to fake it, your prospect will know, and they won’t buy from you.
You must believe in your product or service. What about your products and services? How much do you believe they’re the best of their type on the market? How much do you believe they’re fairly priced and a tremendous value? What about the product or service do you hesitate to disclose when you talk about them? If you aren’t 100% positive about the products and services you’re selling, find another company where you can feel 100% comfortable and proud of their products and services. If you don’t think they’re the best, even if you pretend they are, your prospects will know better!
Here are more major mindset considerations:
When you go into sales conversations, your focus must be 100% on your prospects. What’s important is what they think, feel, know, and want. It’s about their It’s about what they want to change in their lives.
When you go into a sales conversation, if you’re thinking about the disagreement you had with your significant other, about the money you’ll get if your prospect buys, about how mad your boss will be if you don’t make the sale, or about what you’re going do after work today or this weekend, your mindset and your focus is in the wrong place.
It’s not your job as a salesperson to get other people to do what you want them to do! It’s your job to help them do what they want to do.
You’re not the jackass whisperer. You don’t have to convince someone to do anything they don’t want to do.
If you go into a sales conversation with a mindset of fear, your sale is doomed. If you’re afraid, your prospect will be too. If you are afraid your prospect will say no, she will. If you’re nervous, your prospect will be too, and he won’t buy. Your prospect will mirror your mindset back to you.\
So, by all means, build your sales skills. Memorize your sales script and role play it till it’s second nature, conversational, and perfect. Learn to answer objections effectively. Use you statements and open-ended questions. Just be sure that you work even harder on your mindset and check before each conversation to make sure you’re in the proper frame of mind to go into your sales conversations and excel.