When it comes to sales, most of the information you read is about processes and techniques. However, without this one key component, your salespeople will almost certainly be underperforming. And that component is a healthy sales mindset.
‘What does that even mean?’, you might ask. Or, ‘Why is it so important?’. Read on to find out.
What is a healthy mindset?
Mindset is a hot topic today. But what does a ‘healthy mindset’ even mean? Mindful coach, The Blissful Mind, describes it as: ‘A healthy mindset involves finding ways to grow from your thoughts instead of letting them control your life. Rather than dwelling on a negative thought until it becomes overwhelming, the healthy mindset tries to a) move beyond that thought or b) simply accept it.’
A healthy mindset enables you to have a clear picture of your beliefs, thinking, and life. It encourages growth, provocative thought and positivity. And those are three things that can massively boost the impact of a salesperson.
Relating to sales, a healthy mindset is key two achieving goals. If you don’t have it, you aren’t in control and certain situations can end up having a negative impact on your sales ability. When it comes to making logical decisions and saying the right things, owning your mindset is a great place to start. Your overall persona will be more positive, and positivity breeds success.
How to inspire a healthy mindset?
The mind is a complex beast. There are plenty of tips for developing a healthy mindset, from exercising more to getting more sleep but, relating to sales, here are four ways you can inspire a healthier outlook in developing positivity and growth:
1) Don’t drown in targets.
Hitting targets is key to success, but desperation for a sale is not a good mindset to cultivate. If you get desperate, you’ll start focusing on what is going wrong. And that creates negativity. Plus, nobody wants to buy from someone who clearly ‘needs’ to make a sale. Targets are there to drive you, not drown you.
Instead, don’t think of each sale as a ‘need’, but start thinking more strategically. ‘How can I make more sales?’. ‘What can I do to improve my sales technique?’. That is a far more positive outlook that will promote growth and learning. It’s not needy, and it will help you become a more attractive proposition to your prospects.
2) Wave goodbye to assumptions.
Assumptions are a sure-fire for failure. If you assume something, it means you’ve accepted it as true before asking questions or for proof. And that is a negative sales trait. Curiosity, research, and knowledge are a salesperson’s best friend. These positive traits enable people to adopt the mindset of questioning things before coming to the final conclusion. A sales example would be if a person was selling to a specific industry, and it wasn’t going well, so assumes the product doesn’t resonate with that industry. The right question here, instead, is why?
Exploring reasons and rationale forms a key part of a healthy sales mindset and empowers you to evolve and succeed, no matter what the hurdle.
3) First and foremost, provide value.
If your mindset is to firstly provide value to your prospects, then it is a far better approach than continually jumping the gun and going straight in for the sales. Yes, it might be a longer approach, but it cultivates better relationships and greater opportunities.
If you are seen to be helping, you are much more likely to get someone to buy from you. By providing valuable help, you are effectively showing how you can help your prospect solve their pains. A value-first mindset removes the pressure of your prospect not wanting to talk to you.
4) Lastly, never get angry.
Too often, anger and aggressiveness seep into sales approaches. It’s a bad style and won’t improve the chances of a sale. Remember, you have something that they should have a need for, there is no need to be overly aggressive or forceful, or if they say no, angry.
A relaxed and professional mindset is healthier, highlighting how you and the prospect are on the same side – addressing a particular pain. The best salespeople build partnerships with their prospects. Find out what they want for their business, what issues they currently face, and what they require help with. Then, you’ll be in a great position to provide value – as above.
Focus on the mindset of creating a partnership and collaboration, with what you can offer being the catalyst for improvements. You shouldn’t have a ‘you’ and ‘them’ mentality.
The positive impact
A healthy mindset helps to build longer-term relationships with prospects, as well as improving ambition, drive, and determination. Negativity is a slippery slope to failure. If you establish a healthier mindset, you are much more likely for prospects to actually want to work with you.
Think about the four points above and how you can put these into practice. Remember, your mind is your most powerful tool, fine-tune it.
