Do You Have the Mindset for Sales Success?

The world of sales and marketing blend together now more than at any other time. Over the years I’ve done a lot of reading and exploring in the world of marketing, but I’ve never sought out sales training or advice.

So, last month, I looked up a copy of The Art of Closing the Sale by Brian Tracy. I found the most value in Tracy’s book as a dissection of a successful sales personality and mindset. Here are my notes from the insightful chapters like “Developing a Powerful Sales Personality” and “The Psychology of Closing.”

Mindset

• The top people in every field look upon themselves as self-employed which affects the way they think

• If you always look at yourself as self-employed, you are solely responsible for everything that happens to you and your “business.” Shift your mindset so that you look at yourself as the president of your own corporation…selling yourself and your services. Think of yourself as running You Inc.

• Change your thinking from transaction-based to relationship-based. Don’t try to close a sale, try to create and maintain long-term customer relationships

• The best salespeople believe in themselves, their companies, and the value of their product or service

• Rejection is not personal

Success is about effort

• Don’t waste time

• Decide what you want

• Go after it with resolve. Embrace ambition

• Top performers want success vs money to pay the bills

• Trust matters. Keep your commitments and fulfill your promises

Become a life-long learner

• Read

• Attend workshops, classes, and conferences

• Listen to podcasts

• Watch videos

“The Magic Questions”

Ask yourself these questions after every sales call. The point of these questions is to dissect the call, but also to place emphasis on positivity:

1. What did you do right?

2. What would you do differently?

Choose your influences wisely

• Misery loves company and positivity breeds positivity

• Choose to socialize with positive people who are “going somewhere”

• Avoid negative people at work, especially those who spend most of their time complaining

• Cultivate admiration, never envy. If someone is more successful than you, learn from them. Use them as role models

• Never criticize your colleagues

How to beat a slump

• Make 100 calls in the shortest time possible

• Do not worry about selling anything during these calls

• Two things will happen with this method:

1. You will learn your product or service – and quickly

2. You will start to sell precisely because you are not trying to sell

Closing 101

• Reduce stress (for you and the prospect) by moving smoothly through the close

• Don’t try to close unless these requirements are met

• Asking too soon will often kill a sale

• Emphasize the benefits of your product or service, rinse, repeat

• Never argue with a prospect, instead, neutralize mis-perceptions. Remain calm and cheerful

• Ask questions. Answer a question with a question to learn more information

• If your personality does not mesh with a prospect, pass them off to someone else. Better to bring a client into the company than to lose a single commission

Signs that someone is ready to buy

• Rapid talking

• Sudden friendliness

• Deep thought

• Questions about price, terms, or delivery

• Change in attitude, posture, or voice

Use testimonials

• Never knock the competition, but know at least 3 advantages your company has over them

• Don’t pre-judge. If you think someone will not buy, it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy

• Selling is exhausting work

Action Items:

Take a minute to identify the 3 most common objections you hear and write down some answers that will eliminate each objection. Talking to some of your peers in the industry about the challenges they face will also help you gain some more insight into common objections and how they approach them.

A great place to connect to your peers is through commonsku’s social community. It’s an easy way to interact with salespeople in the industry to share best practices, find great products, build closer relationships, and learn from industry experts and peers.

This post was originally posted to the commonsku Blog on February 23, 2015. it has been edited and updated as of August 5, 2021.