Sales! There, I’ve said it.
Fess up, lovely people. I know that many of you cringe at the thought of picking up the phone or asking someone to buy from you. I get it. Really, I do. But what if I could show you one thing to change that?
My Promise: If you read through this article, I promise you will have a new sales mindset to try out which will foster new activity and different results.
Einstein’s definition of insanity: “Doing the same thing and expecting a different result”
Current Sales Mindset: Our minds play tricks!
Before I ask you to DO something different, I want you to think about WHY you are doing what you are doing!
Think about what you think about before you pick up the phone or ask someone to buy from you. Chances are you are thinking about it as an obligation. You know you HAVE to call someone in order to progress the conversation and (hopefully) to get them to buy from you.
The most common thoughts go something like these:
“I know I have to follow up (obligation)… but they are probably too busy to take my call… and will think I am annoying/stalking them (excuse and justification).”
“I said I would call… maybe I should just text (obligation) … that way they can call me when they are ready (justification).”
Let’s unpack what is happening here:
Obligations focus on doing the minimum: If you think about what people are ‘required’ to do – that is the obligation mindset, and it really focuses on doing the minimum to get by, to get someone or that pesky reminder off their back. The intent is to move on, not to put effort into this activity.
Obligations focus on something you HAVE to do: An obligation feels like something you have to drag yourself to… because you know you said you would or you have a sense of foreboding or urgency that is about what you need.
New Sales Mindset: Here’s the change
Stop thinking of it as an obligation and start thinking about it as an opportunity.
Those are great words but how do you do that? If you truly know that you can help someone with a problem that troubles them, then you want to do that. So you do this by putting your focus on the other person and what they want. When you pick up the phone or meet someone, look at it as an an opportunity to serve, earn their respect, learn, influence, network, encourage, or teach. This mindset change has you looking for how you can help the other person to be successful and get a win for you along the way.
This is great selling — it is about helping people solve a problem or fulfil a need that they have. They need someone to help them; could it be you?
The opportunity mindset invites you to explore the possibilities with the other person and find a solution that will work and solve their problem, or find out that you can’t help them but you might know someone else who can.
When you adopt this mindset and the activities that follow (questioning and understanding), then asking someone to buy from you becomes a breeze. You have done the ground work, earned the respect and learned how you can help them, so you know you are helping them and all you are doing is inviting them to say yes or no.
So get out there my friends and look for opportunities… they’re everywhere!
Need help? Download this handy poster to remind you where to focus!
For the love of selling,
Fran
