Don't Mind Me!

We have all heard of Mindset…there are lots of examples on social media of things to do and people to help you with your mindset.

BUT

what is it?

what does it mean?

have you got one?

do you need one?

what do you do with one?    

 is it really ‘all in the mind’??

Well let’s start at the beginning…

Everyone has a Mindset -  it just means your beliefs, your approach to situations and your frame of mind in certain scenarios or at certain times.  It’s a simple way to describe how you view, think, approach or believe.

You can apply it any situation.

Here’s an everyday example – food shopping

Is it a positive approach, do you enjoy the activity?
Do you believe it’s useful or just a drudge?
Do you get despondent when you need to shop or are you uplifted at the thought of trying some new foods and recipes?

All of the above can change depending on many factors, for instance – time.

Have you had a busy day and you need to shop in the evening when you are tired?
Is it the weekend and you are having friends for dinner and you’re excited to shop for them?

You see our mindset, in relation to any activity or situation, has many influencing factors.

Sales Mindset (How you think about sales and selling)

I have a clear understanding of sales and I can tell you this… if you want to be really successful at selling, having a great sales mindset is key.

You need to be in the right frame of mind, positive about sales activities, in order to be good at sales. A positive Mindset for sales is the background to everything you do that concerns sales and when you are in business, everything concerns sales!

If your sales mindset is a bit wobbly, you might find yourself doing some of the following:

• Deciding that people can’t afford what you sell – so you don’t ask them to buy

• Focusing on easy (non-sales) things and avoiding actual selling activities and conversations

• Talking yourself out of doing something that will help your sales.

You need to tell your brain that sales is a good thing. This reframing is what gives us courage with sales. You may need work on reframing your thinking around sales.

Our beliefs around anything (sales in this instance) are embedded in our minds from experiences throughout our life and the opinions of those around us (especially as we grow up).
When I say embedded I mean really hard wired in.

Beliefs can stem from childhood and are often reinforced by our own experiences.

Often these beliefs are other people’s beliefs not our own. Again, they have been embedded into our brains.

We are exposed, daily, to social media marketing and, let’s be honest, some of it is very pushy and not particularly tasteful. We absorb this constantly and it serves to reinforce any negative beliefs we may have picked up.

We are also very influenced by the language that is used around sales.
Again it’s often not helpful language, using words and phrases such ‘prospect’, ‘chasing a sale’, ‘closing down the sale’, ‘persuasion’.

If we want to change our views and feelings, we need to unpick the negative stuff first.

Here are a few ideas of how to tackle this problem and turn uncomfortable to comfortable, where your sales are concerned.

This will allow you to:

• Enjoy your sales experiences

• Be more profitable

• Grow your business to where you want

Surely that’s enough to get positive with your mindset?

Think back to the last time you had a BAD BUYING experience with a sales person.

List what you felt at the time…emotions and thoughts.( cornered, ignored, pressured)

Then list what the sales person could have done differently to make the experience positive. (found out more about your requirements, listen more instead of talking, shown or discussed more options)

The things that you have identified as the elements that made you uncomfortable when buying are the things you need to avoid doing (write these in red) 
The list of things the salesperson could have done differently are where you need to concentrate you efforts (write these in green)

 It makes sense really.  More of the good stuff and less of the rubbish approach.

Easier said than done, but if you write these things out and put the lists somewhere very visible, you will start to think more positively, (starting to reprogramme your sales mind)

Another list approach. 
List all the words and phrases you can think of to use in place of ‘selling’ or ‘sales’.  Here’s a couple of examples:

• Collaborating

•  Designing solutions

• Advising

• Guiding 

A good idea is to look through this list before going into a sales call, so you can get yourself in a positive mindset zone and grab yourself some sales courage.

So really a Positive Sales Mindset is crucial.  It’s not just a trendy word.  It is real and necessary for your business.