True sales professionals understand and appreciate the mental and emotional aspects of selling. It is a key factor in determining the extent of their sales success and, ultimately, the size of their paycheck.
Selling is about more than just presenting your product or service to a potential customer. It's about understanding their needs, building relationships, and earning their trust. And to do that, you need to be in the right frame of mind.
Given the constant demands of prospecting, qualifying, and closing new business, professional salespeople need to have confidence, resilience, and the ability to handle rejection.
The best are the ones who can keep their emotions in check and stay focused on their goals. They don't let a bad call or a missed opportunity affect them personally; they know it's part of the game. Instead, they use it as an opportunity to learn and grow.
One of my clients shared recently that selling is a lot like playing competitive golf. Professional and single-digit golfers know that having all the physical talent in the world doesn't matter if your mental and emotional game is not up to par. The same thing is true in sales! Keeping a level mindset and never getting too high or low is essential.
Here are some tips that can help:
Stay Focused - Keep your eye on the prize (or the flagstick), and don't get distracted by things outside your control.
Develop Resilience - Learn to bounce back quickly from bad shots and lousy sales calls and keep moving forward.
Practice Positivity - Keep a positive attitude and look for the "silver lining" in every situation. "What did I learn?"
Stay Motivated - Find ways to stay motivated by setting goals, working with a mentor, or recharging your batteries.
As much time as you spend learning about your product/service and becoming a subject matter expert, you should spend an equivalent amount of time strengthening your mental game and emotional skills. There are lots of available tools and resources to help you do so; reach out to us for assistance!
Jim Marshall
Jim brings over 35 years of sales, management and marketing experience to the "training table." He has coached hundreds of business owners, sales executives, managers, and corporations to help them achieve greater levels of success and productivity. His areas of expertise range from sales and management training in the advertising and sports marketing fields to professional and business-to-business services, continuing education, new business development, staff hiring and assessments.
