Since life is a game and all games are games we know that all games are really just head games.
It's why poker players wear sunglasses, UFC fighters stare each other down at the weigh-in, and it's why executives have receptionists and answering machines.
It's all a game of positioning, angles, framing, and strategy.
This is why, at the heart of my training, my goal is to strengthen your sales psyche so you can harness the power of positive thinking and overcome your limiting beliefs, which, unfortunately, tend to dominate our thinking.
In her book, The Happiness Track: How to Apply the Science of Happiness to Accelerate Your Success, author Emma Seppala, a psychologist at Stanford University, explains why we tend to have more negative thoughts. In essence, our brains have a rather pesky habit of looking at the clouds instead of the silver lining.
Our perspective is biased toward the negative; as far as our minds are concerned, bad is stronger than good,” she writes. “We have such a strong propensity to favor negativity that we have a skewed vision of reality.”
This is why Zig Ziglar said positive thinking was like bathing. It doesn't last, which is why you should do it daily.
We can all get down on ourselves.
None of us are impervious to having deals go bad, clients get crazy, prospects lie to us, etc. It's like a "bad beat" in poker or an unseen low blow in boxing.
It happens.
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If you're a professional, you accept and prepare for the risks and accept it when fate doesn't work out as you prepared.
But you prepare nonetheless. You prepare to win, which starts with winning thoughts.
So let's take a look at the limiting beliefs we all suffer from in sales from time to time and how to put them behind us.
LIMITING BELIEF: If I approach a prospect either in person or on the phone, he'll ignore me, or worse, be rude or insulting or mean and humiliate me publicly.
REALITY: Only jerks that you don't want as clients will be rude and/or try to embarrass you. We are all raised to be polite and courteous, including big wig executives.
Playing all of these negative scenarios in your head only serves to hurt your sales psyche, which limits your growth and earning potential.
Put a smile on your face and walk right up to that key prospect and simply say,
Hello, Ms. Executive, I've been looking forward to meeting you for quite some time."
And see how it goes from there. You'll be glad you did.
Can I let you in on a little secret when it comes to making more sales? It all begins with what you tell yourself you can or cannot do.
Most sales are over before they even begin because you, the salesperson, rationalize your way into not putting in the weekly, daily, and hourly efforts it takes to put yourself in enough winning situations to win.
That being said, let's look at...
LIMITING BELIEF #2: People will laugh at me or ridicule me for even trying to approach these bigwigs.
REALITY: Few people know you and/or your relationship—or lack thereof—with that big executive prospect, so walk up to them like you are longtime friends, stick your hand out, introduce yourself with a smile, ask them for a moment of their time or pay them a sincere compliment, and don't worry about what anyone else is thinking.
The deeper reality is that your fellow salespeople and competitors are wishing they had the guts to call or approach that top prospect and are asking themselves
How in the world is that guy from my competitor in so tight with the Big Wig?"Stuart Smalley is famous for his daily affirmations, including
I'm good enough. I'm smart enough. And doggone it, people like me."
The truth is we all enjoy being liked or at least not hated, despised, ridiculed, and rejected.
It goes all the way back to the fear of being the last to be chosen for the kickball team during recess in elementary school or the fear of not being invited to the Chuck E. Cheese birthday party that EVERYONE is going to.
It's crazy—but true—that the events of our lives going back to when we still wore superhero pajamas impact how we go about the profession of sales today.
It's why you don't pick up the phone or approach key decision-makers at your Divine 99 target companies. You've convinced yourself of...
LIMITING BELIEF #3: Big Wigs don't like salespeople.
REALITY: According to a 2009 study by Steven Kaplan, Mark Klebanov, and Morten Sorenson entitled "Which C.E.O. Characteristics and Abilities Matter?" CEOs like
- attention-to-detail,
- persistence,
- efficiency,
- analytic thoroughness and
- the ability to work long hours.
So, by doing your homework on a Big Wig, calling early in the morning, late in the evening, and/or tracking them down on weekends at trade shows and conferences is endearing to them!!
What does controlling a 700-horsepower, 3,330-pound car traveling at 200 mph while nudging one of 42 other cars in front of 100,000+ screaming fans in the stands and millions more on TV?
It takes total concentration.
It takes total commitment.
It takes being present in the moment.
It takes aggression.
It also takes patience, preparation, and the power of positive thinking.
If someone is good enough for the owner of a multi-million dollar NASCAR team to allow to drive his car, then they have what it takes to win.
If your company has provided any training at all on your offerings and the benefits of what you sell, then you have the foundation to bring value to the right prospects.
If you combine the foundational training your company offers with additional training and continuing education, then you have what it takes to overcome...
LIMITING BELIEF #4: I don't have enough experience or education to approach and/or sell to top prospects and Big Wigs.
REALITY: Every top prospect, Big Wig, CEO, etc., has their own self-doubts, demons, and skeletons in their closets.
Many are self-made and/or were poor students in high school and/or college and even dropouts. (Sir Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Mark Zuckerberg, Ted Turner, Ralph Lauren, Howard Hughes, and John D. Rockefeller are all college dropouts.)
Executives and people of power know what it took to get there, and they appreciate tenacity, heart, passion, drive, and determination.
Few will ever ask—and fewer will care—about your education or lack thereof.
They are looking to surround themselves with people that can get things done and make their lives easier.
If that's you, then your education and experience will never be brought up as long as you are an expert in what you offer.
The smartest people in the world can't be experts in everything, which is why the most successful of the world surround themselves with people who are smarter than them in the areas that are important and vital to them reaching their goals.
Would you like to see how to overcome the other 9 limiting beliefs now and get started on a 30-day guided plan for sales growth?
Check out the Make Every Sale program here.
Oh yeah...
One other thing it takes for a NACAR driver to win is a team, which is what you'll have access to in the Make Every Sale program.
Would you like help overcome all of your negative beliefs now and get started on a fast-start 30-day guided plan to sales growth?
Check out the Gorillas of Growth.
It has been totally re-designed with
- new modules,
- quizzes,
- templates,
- live, interactive calls,
- a private group for real-time support,
- updated videos to guide you through the program and more.
Order now, and you'll also receive immediate access to our private online group, where you can ask any question of any of us at any time to grow your sales.
See you on the inside, where we all harness the power of positive thinking to make every sale.
Good Selling,
