Get Over Yourself – the Sales Mindset

The Elephant in the Room!

I was speaking to a group of female entrepreneurs on “Sales Skills JUST For Entrepreneurs” and I started out by addressing the elephant in the room.

I asked “Who LOVES to sell?” and four women (out of 16 or 25%) put up their hands.

I then asked “Who has had any sales training?” and the same four women put up their hands. So, the majority of the women in the room had no sales training and did not like to sell; I am sad to say this is not surprising!

Sales has a negative reputation of being manipulative, stressful and not fun, with not a positive attribute to be seen. And that is so wrong. Being in sales is being of service to others, it’s an honorable profession but not treated as such.

Yes, there are some sales people who are only interested in making money for themselves, with no regard to the prospective clients wants or needs (most life lessons tend to be expensive), but luckily, they are the minority.

Most of us small business owners operate with integrity. I would never sell anyone anything that they do not need, want or cannot afford. Each transaction must be a win-win for all involved.

Fear and hate generally come from not knowing. And if you haven’t had any sales training, then how can you know how to sell?

No wonder you don’t enjoy it. It truly is not rocket science to realize why you don’t, and learning how to sell is not rocket science either, it’s just something you haven’t learned yet.

People assume that if they can talk, then they can sell and nothing can be further from the truth. To me, sales is a noble profession and all professions are taught and learned. You might have the right attitude and aptitude to be good at something, but doctors and plumbers all get certified and trained to be great at what they do. I think it goes without saying further that, businesses need to have marketing and Sales education and training if they want to stay in business. So, let me ask you this: would you go to a doctor who wasn’t educated and trained?

Get rid of the extrovert myth

The stereotypical salesperson is an extrovert who actually sells the least! They tend to talk too much and listen too little. Optimistic introverts sell more but it’s us ambiverts (someone who exhibits qualities of both introversion and extroversion.) who outsell by a factor of 2:1.

Daniel Pink said that ambiverts “know when to speak up and when to shut up, when to inspect and when to respond, when to push and when to hold back.” An important characteristic of a great sales person is their ability to ask probing deep questions to get at the real concern, need and want, to actively listen to the answers and then say only that which needs to be said, and not everything that they know.

For example, if there are 10 benefits of your product or service, but your prospect only values one or two of them – Do Not talk about the other 8! They do not care. You risk losing the sale by trying to prove how ‘expert’ you are in what a great huge solution you offer.

Your value is only that which someone wants and is willing to pay you what you think it’s worth. That’s why the elephant signifies the ideal sales professional – big ears for active listening and small mouth for talking  as little as possible. Aim for 20-30% of the total talk time.

The more your prospect talks, the better it is for you working together as you get to know them much better – assuming you’re asking the right questions to qualify them as a potential client that is.

So get over yourself that you hate selling. In your business, YOU are your best, and at times, your only cheerleader. If you’re not out there promoting yourself, then who is?

Learn how to sell, learn the sales game as I call it (ok, it’s a sales process but that sounds so boring) and you’ll learn to go from Sales FEAR to Sales FUN! I guarantee it. AND you will have a sustainable fun business which you will love.

Remember, to have fun and make money. The more fun you have, the more money you will make.

[email protected] 416-951-3842.