Modern selling mindsets for 2020 and beyond
It’s been a year of disruption for everyone, and your sales team is no exception.
From early sales conversations to client delivery, the process is now virtual. For most sellers, this is an entirely new way of operating, and it’s not going back to the way it was any time soon.
That means your team’s go-to moves in the sales process, from building prospect and client relationships to closing deals, may now be obsolete. Your salespeople need to think and operate differently. Their book of business and the growth of your business depend on it.
Success in this hybrid world requires even more focus on mindset. How do sellers continually remain focused and motivated when they’re competing against major distractions? There are five mindsets every seller and sales leader needs to master to move forward successfully in this hybrid world.
- Agility. One hallmark of agility is the ability to filter through massive amounts of information and extract the right intelligence to help prospects and clients. This is more critical than ever before because prospects and clients are overwhelmed. Another hallmark is to reframe failure. This about taking lessons from experience, seeing them as data points and using them to improve.
- Optimism. Modern sellers see the positive, even amid negativity. It’s the ability to process through negativity and return to an outlook that sees a way forward. They see every interaction as an opportunity to make a difference and persevere through rejection.
- Systematic. This is about creating the right structure for each day. Everyone has a finite amount of time, energy, motivation and discipline. Modern sellers consider how they’re using these resources on their most critical activities. The results created tomorrow are a direct result of how someone structures and uses their most important resources today.
- Persistent. Persistence keeps you from giving up too soon. This is especially notable now, when it is easy to create an excuse to not follow through on important activities. Persistence is the decision to take the next step forward, and the next step after that. It’s also the decision to stay market-forward and not shrink back, to remain actively in front of your prospects and clients.
- Competitiveness. Especially in sales and business development, there needs to be a drive to win and maintain a sense of competitiveness, which helps sellers think more creatively and put in the discretionary effort to help them stand out. Competitiveness plays into optimism and is mental fuel to keep focused.
Here are three ways you can help implement modern selling mindsets.
- Choose one mindset to work on and focus on it for 30 days. When they work on one, they’ll see a ripple effect into the others as they improve.
- With the chosen mindset, become more aware of it. Over two to three days, have them jot down those moments where they’re doing it well and where they can improve.
- Acknowledge where it went well to amplify it for the future. Then they can decide how they’d like to improve what can be improved.
Mindset is a choice. Your prospects and clients will be drawn to your team, and you will win more business, when you lead with the right mindset.
Amy Franko is CEO of Amy Franko Associates
