Discover the Secrets to Thriving in the World of Sales Through Resilience, Creativity, and a Growth Mindset
Updated: Oct 2, 2023 5:10 PM
Get ready! Get set! Go!
I always thought that was a bit redundant. Wasn’t getting ready the same as getting set?
Well now I know better. GET SET means get your mind-set.
Because before you go charging off to do whatever it is you're going to do you’ve got to get your mind right.
You’ve got to muster your resolve, your grit and determination (also redundant concepts) to accomplish what you must at all means necessary.
That means not quitting until you’ve reached your goal. That means not letting anything throw you off your game.
Rude people, get over them. Challenges in your way, find a solution. Road blocks, switch directions.
With the right mindset you can do great things. Think of all the heroes in your world. Athletes, historical figures, writers, actors, people in your field you look up to. They surely must have had to have a winning mindset and faced many rude people, challenges and road blocks.
Talent and luck are merely a tiny factor compared to having the right mindset.
The terms fixed mindset and growth mindset are just as they sound. If a person has a fixed mindset they will not push beyond their preconceived limits. When they try something new and are not instantly good at it they give up. They say, well that’s not for me and I can’t do it.
Whereas a person with a growth mindset will try something new, and if they are not instantly good at it, will keep trying until they improve. A person with a growth mindset will continue to practice until they become quite good at whatever it is they are doing. The saying, “At first you don’t succeed, try, try again” is the anthem of growth mindset.
When someone I’m talking to learns I am in sales, they commonly say. “I could never do sales, I tried once and was awful at it.” or “I had a sales gig once, I hated it” and I hear this often from people I believe have a growth mindset.
So why is sales seen to be so hard? Because of the rejection. Rejection is uncomfortable. And pushing outside your comfort zone on a daily, sometime all day basis is not for the faint of heart. One of my favorite TED Talks is by Jia Jiang, 100 Days of Rejection. He seeks ways to become better at handling rejection. Please watch it, he is charming and his talk is lighthearted and extremely insightful.
Rejection aside, the other thing that makes sales such a vigorous pursuit and career path is the hustle. Hustle to me means being proactive and creative. It’s not just throwing yourself at the door until it opens, it’s finding new ways to get in the room. Finding your edge in sales is key to gaining traction and ultimately success.
I can think of many instances where I found a better way to sell a product or service and it helped me crush my quota. I then got promoted to teach my approaches to others. I found I really love teaching and helping other people achieve their goals. But I also still love selling!
There’s a certain rush that comes from making a sale, a dopamine hit. You could say sales people are money motivated and it’s true, but aren’t we all. It’s really that little pick me up we are after. It’s no wonder that sales careers attract people that have a bit of an addictive personality. When I think of some of the colorful characters I’ve worked with over the years it makes me smile. But they’re my people, I’m one of them. Luckily my addictions have mostly been for my love of the outdoors and the sports I enjoy.
You know you are a salesperson when you start jonesing when it’s been awhile since your last sale. The need for another sale and another dopamine hit is something you obsess about. It’s why car dealerships feel like you're stepping into a cage with a bunch of hungry animals. I sold Toyotas once upon a time in Portland, OR. I learned more in my year doing that than my last 20 selling various goods and services. I highly recommend the gig for anyone wanting to seriously understand the craft of selling.
Selling is a craft and it’s a skill and should be approached as such. That means understanding you’ll never fully master it and you are a lifelong learner seeking to always be learning something new from others or from books etc. One thing it certainly is not is - retail. Many people confuse the two and think because they’ve done retail they’ve done sales.
Retail is setting up a nice store with nice things on the shelves and waiting for someone to take something off the shelf and bring it to you at the register. They say, I’d like to buy this please, and hand you money without haggling over the price. Then they leave and you never see them again.
Sales is very different, and while you may also put up a nice store with nice things…you are not waiting for someone to walk in and buy something. You are looking for them, and when someone shows a bit of interest you build rapport and value. You do everything you can to persuade them to buy. And when they do buy, there is often a negotiation over price. So you’ve got to be ready for that! The real selling doesn’t even begin until someone says “No Thanks”.
Overcoming objections is a skill and just one more facet to master in the craft of selling. Now I’m not trying to make anyone do anything they don’t want to do, but I do think they were interested for a reason and I believe there’s still a way to help us both get what we want. I approach the exercise with a mindset of “you’ll thank me later” and they do! I’ve many people connected to me on social media because I helped them get what they wanted. I make the process fun and build rapport with them, make a friend sometimes. I even had someone I sold a car to reach out to me and ask me to train their phone bank of volunteers to help their run for congress, which I did.
So you see, it’s ok to push a little and challenge someone when they say “no thank you” ask them why they are deciding not to buy today. I always ask in my nicest tone. I say “just out of curiosity may I ask why you are deciding not to buy today?” and they give a reason or list of reasons and I can usually find a way to make them happy and turn the no to a yes.
Sometimes the no sticks, but I believe it’s not a no forever. It’s a no right now, and I set a follow up task to check back with them in a week, a month, a year depending on their situation. Then I follow through with that follow up because that’s where some of my best wins have come from and because I know most sales people are too busy charging forward and don’t follow up.
It’s the art of the hustle and mindset that will help you the most in the craft of sales. It won’t be easy, but if you stick with it, you’ll start enjoying the benefits it provides. Money, confidence and influence with others.