There was something fundamentally wrong with how I was approaching selling – I needed to change. It was at this point that I was finally able to let go of the outrage and rejection and take responsibility for having tried to sell the ‘wrong’ way. I realised that the old ways of selling had everything backwards, and this freed me to create a new sales approach with a primary focus on creating trust and removing sales pressure from the process.

Ironically, when your mindset is focused on creating trust with your prospects, sales happen naturally, without resistance.

When I think about that life-changing sales call, I realise that the executives knew I had an agenda for that call – to make them buy what I had to sell. I did it by “the book”, dealt with their objections, pushed subtly to move things forward – you know the drill. As it turned out, they were playing along. While at first I took the rejection personally, I later realised that the problem wasn’t me, it was the whole dynamic of trying to make the sale.

Did it ever occur to me to think about the ways I could develop a relationship of trust with them so that we could explore what issues and problems they were trying to solve? No. Did I ever contemplate that by not knowing more about their issues and problems, I didn’t know whether I could help them? No. Did it ever occur to me to ask them, ‘Where do you want to go from here?’ No. I was on that call to make a sale, and the sales pressure I was exerting with every word made them feel it was okay to lead me on and even lie to me. Think about it: would they have lied to me if they trusted that I would not exert sales pressure on them, regardless of their decision? Probably not.

Big lessoned learned: Selling is all about trust. People can sense when you are more concerned about your commission than their best interests. When you treat people as people, not prospects, and reveal your trustworthiness, they will start to trust you. They will see you as a problem solver focused solely on their needs. From there you have the basis of a long-term relationship – the true competitive advantage in this new economy.

New Mindset = New Results

If you’ve only been exposed to one way of selling, then this chart will give you a quick comparison to see where your current sales mindset is and what areas of your mindset may need to shift to get the results you’re looking for

 

OLD SALES MINDSET NEW SALES MINDSET
Always start out with a strong sales pitch. Stop the sales pitch. Start a conversation.
Your goal is always to close the sale. Your goal is always to discover whether you and your prospect are a good fit.
When you lose a sale, it’s usually at the end of the sales process. When you lose a sale, it’s usually at the beginning of the sales process.
Rejection is a normal part of selling, so get used to it. Hidden sales pressure causes rejection. Eliminate sales pressure, and you’ll never experience rejection.
Keep chasing prospects until you get a yes or no. Never chase prospects. Instead, get to the truth of whether there’s a fit or not.
When prospects offer objections, challenge and/or counter them. When prospects offer objections, validate them and reopen the conversation.
If prospects challenge the value of your product or service, defend yourself and explain its value. Never defend yourself or what you have to offer. This only creates more sales pressure.