The 8 Mindsets Of Elite Sales Professionals
What is more important: skillset or mindset? Come on – you know the answer. You can have all the techniques in the world, but if your head ain’t on straight you are finished before you get started.
The best of the best (and that’s you, right?!) actively work on building and sustaining the proper mental approach.
Call it the X-factor, that part of your achievement drive that will not be tamed.
These are the winners. Are they skilled?
Absolutely. But far more important is the feeding of the attitude.
In fact, it is from a proper mindset that effective sales traits develop.
It doesn’t matter if you have all the latest “cool tools” and killer closing techniques intended to increase your sales output.
If you don’t have the right mental approach – the mentality, attitude, and outlook – you will utilize these trendy approaches with very limited success.
There are eight fundamental characteristics of successful sales professionals that stem from the winner’s mental outlook. These mindset assets will provide you with the foundation needed to build a highly successful sales career.
- Confidence
Confidence is one of the most under-appreciated, underrated traits of successful professionals. This is particularly true for sales professionals.
That’s because, in the sales process, you need to have enough confidence for both you and your customer.
- Diligence
Diligence is characterized by “stick-to-itiveness.” It’s about doing the small but important things again, and again, and again – until success is achieved.
Consciously or non-consciously, we develop both good and bad habits in our lives. And we cultivate them a little bit at a time when it comes to success – in life and, especially, in sales.
- Strategy
I want to challenge you to seriously consider where you are going with your career. It’s not just about the next job or the next promotion. It’s about growing intentionally.
What are you doing to maximize your value to the organization? What are you doing to strategically grow your career? Who is in charge?
- Technique
The difference between having good technique and having great technique requires a very specific plan. It includes two factors that many salespeople find very difficult to accept.
Number one: vulnerability. Number two: a willingness to fail.
- Preparedness
Preparedness needs to be one of your goals, so that you feel equipped to confidently respond to anything the customer might bring up in the sales conversation.
- Mental Toughness
The fact of the matter is that sales presentations are simply not very fun sometimes. (If you’ve been in sales for more than, say, three days, you know I am stating the obvious.)
It’s not fun because there are times when your customers, your vendors, your peers, or even your managers become sources of conflict. Put another way, this job would be so much easier if not for all the people involved!
- Stamina
The problem is that the very best salespeople make it all look so easy! But we all know that the role requires a constant outpouring of energy.
Sales is physically demanding work. It requires maintaining positive energy, talking with numerous customers every day, and being on your feet for extended periods of time.
- Relax
There is one final but very important key to success for sales professionals…RELAX!
You’ll need to approach this more strategically than you might think, but you need to relax – to learn how to calm your brain down.
It’s a fact: sales is always a go, go, go world.
One thing you need to understand is that since you are going, going, and going, you are giving out energy all the time – and you’re often not getting enough back. And that, my friends, is a recipe for burn-out.
Burn-out happens when you are always on. Your brain has no recovery time because you take your problems, issues and stresses home with you.
The cell phone sits at the dinner table. You check e-mails at 10 at night, only to find that this action raises your stress levels.
Your brain needs rest, but it cannot get that rest if you never give it the opportunity.
How are you feeling, superstar? Ready to take on the world? I hope so!
I hope you are ready to believe in yourself, and to carry nothing but positive energy into this next phase of your career.
I hope you are prepared to be your best self.
