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Collection of tracks for demonstrations
Mastering The Sales Mindset
Brought to you by Assemble You.
It's time to work on YOU. So sit back and listen to practical, actionable advice to accelerate your progress.
Henry Ford, the foremost American industrialist, business magnate, and visionary, is reputed to have 'put the world on wheels'.
Ford sold 15 million Ford Model T cars before the model ceased production in May 1927, making it one of the best-selling vehicles of all time. Ford also famously said, ‘Nothing happens until someone sells something’.
‘Everybody is a salesperson, and everything is selling’, says Zig Ziglar, the great American salesman, author, and motivational speaker. Everyone and everything is selling something. When you want a job, you sell yourself. If you meet someone new, you might do the same. That phone is selling you connectivity. That sofa sells you comfort.
'Maybe you're not selling cookies — or any products or services — but you are selling something’, says Lori Darley, Founder and CEO of Conscious Leaders. Whether you work for a company that is trying to bring in more customers, dealing with clients over the phone, or determining whether customers will come back, you're in sales. If you're working towards a promotion, raising money for a cause, or attempting to convince someone of a new idea, you're selling your brand and your expertise.
Carol Standing, for Accordant, says, ‘there are only two roles across every business, in every industry, globally -If you are not a salesperson, then you are sales support.’
In this track, we will explore why selling is a crucial skill for everyone, how to improve your ability to sell, why having the right attitude for sales could be the difference between success and failure, and how to master the sales mindset.
Matt Ehrlichman, founder and CEO of home improvement network Porch, notes, ‘Even the most basic sales training can make an average seller out of a complete novice. But what truly sets the best salespeople apart from the pack? The answer is in their mindset.’
How good you are at selling yourself or your products could determine your success. It is the factor that separates achievers from non-achievers or underachievers, and guess what? It does not start from your career type, skill, or connections… it starts from the mind.
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What has mindset got to do with sales?
Everything.
Tony Robbins, entrepreneur, number one NY Times bestselling author, coach, and speaker, tells us ‘that success in life is 80% psychology and only 20% mechanics, or actual skill. Your mindset affects your business as much as your strategy does. You can have all the tools and knowledge in the world, but if you don’t master the power of mindset, you’ll never achieve your dreams.’
People tend to believe that to be successful in sales, you have to be extroverted or have all the characteristics of an expert public speaker. Yet Robbins points out, ‘traits like these will only get you so far. You might make a few sales or land a coveted job – but from there, you’ll need to develop the mindset of a successful salesperson. It’s only the power of mindset that will propel you toward sustainable growth in sales.’
So how do you develop and master a sales mindset?
It starts with a strong desire.
You must have a strong desire to succeed in sales.
In his bestselling book Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill notes that ‘desire is the starting point of all achievement. A sales mindset begins with desire. You must develop a burning desire to be the best, to be an achiever, and to make a distinct mark as a salesperson.’
Next, you must connect that desire to your life goals or purpose.
Connecting your desire to succeed in sales to your life goals or purpose will develop the hunger and drive to succeed in you. Robbins notes that ‘every great salesperson is driven. They have a hunger to be better, achieve more, and grow not only in their career but as humans. How do they find that drive? It doesn't come from a desire for wealth or status. They've made the connection between excellence in sales and their purpose in life.'
A strong desire to succeed in sales and connecting sales success to your life goals and purpose makes you believe in yourself.
And this takes us to the next point.
You have to believe in what you are selling.
It is a challenging and thankless job selling a product you do not believe in. Imagine you are the product, you want to sell your abilities to your managers to land that dream promotion, and you do not believe in yourself. It will not take long for people to sense your lack of assuredness. You have to have confidence in yourself before others can believe in you.
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Next, you have to understand why you are selling whatever you are selling.
To master the sales mindset, you must clearly understand why you are selling the product, idea, or whatever it is you are selling. In his TED talk How Great Leaders Inspire Action, Simon Sinek explains that where most leaders understand "what" their organizations do and "how" they do it, really great leaders are the ones that clearly understand the why behind their product or service. It is no different in sales. Great sellers are able to understand why they sell a product and how it will genuinely help their customers.
You might be wondering how best to do this. It is simple.
You must identify your product’s X Factor.
What makes your product stand out? What is that ‘thing’, that quality that your product has that others do not have? Once you can pinpoint that, then you use it to your advantage.
Know that you are not just ‘selling’ but creating solutions.
You must do away with the idea that you are solely selling a product. You are also selling 'solutions' to a problem. Robbins rightly notes that ‘People today don’t need more stuff – they need more time, more energy, and more productivity. They need you to solve the problems that are keeping them from realizing fulfillment in life.’ That is a sales mindset.
You are also not just ‘selling’ but helping the customer.
You are not just selling the customer that TV set. You are adding value to their life because their children can now watch the TV in their room without having to fight for the remote control. You are helping bring happiness and balance to their lives. With this mindset, you can drive sales through by making the customers see what value you are bringing into their lives.
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Next, remember that rejection is not a negative.
A sales mindset sees rejection and ‘no’ as part and parcel of the process of selling. Rejection should not dampen your drive or make you feel defeated. A seller can only really control two elements of the job - their attitude and effort, says Marc Wayshak, best-selling author of three books on sales and leadership. It is inevitable that rejection and lost sales are going to happen. What's important is how a great seller responds when things get tough. The best salespeople don't let the fear of failure or rejection harms their effort levels. They fail fast, fail often, and use rejection as fuel toward closing their next sales opportunity. You must build resilience from your rejections and turn them into a driving force. Robbins notes that ‘even with an incredible salesperson mentality and all the right skills, you won’t be successful 100% of the time. Failure is always a part of success.’
Add value and never stop learning.
As a salesperson, you are closest to the customer. If the customers do not like a service or product, find out why. The feedback from customers helps improve the service or the product. ‘Sales is a contribution mindset’, says Lori Darley, 'rather than seeing sales as pushing against the resistance of the prospect, we can choose to lean into perceived resistance with curiosity. By leaning in, we explore what else may be possible.’
Every sales experience, positive or not, is a learning opportunity. Mastering a sales mindset is also not just about pulling off huge sales but sustaining the momentum and that involves learning and unlearning.
Tony Robbins notes that ‘every interaction offers us feedback, and by learning and listening, we can use that feedback to make big changes in our business and our lives. We learn what others need and want, and we can meet them where they are. We can learn something from every interaction and become stronger in our role’.
In this track, we began by explaining why everyone is a salesperson and why it is crucial to have a sales mindset. We noted that mastering the sales mindset starts with a strong desire to succeed. You must connect that desire to your life goals and purpose, as this helps build your self-belief. We also noted that you have to believe in what you are selling and understand that you are not just selling but creating solutions and helping the customer. We explained that rejection is not a problem and, finally, you should add value to whatever you are selling and never stop learning.
This week, think about something you are used to selling, whether that be your own skills or a product, and think about the solution it offers. Think about the value you’re adding to a customer's, colleague’s, or client’s life.
Mastering a sales mindset is a marathon and never a sprint. You work at it every day. Zig Ziglar famously said, ‘People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing, that's why we recommend it daily.' This is the same with mastering a sales mindset; we recommend that you work at it every day.