Fulfil Your Values and Align Your Beliefs to Increase Sales

In recent posts we have talked about the importance of having a positive attitude and acquiring a superior set of selling skills to enhance your sales performance.

Indeed, it is true that the best sales people tend to be highly motivated individuals who have spent a lot of time and effort finely tuning their sales techniques and sales process.

But successful selling relies on much more than this…

This is because our fundamental values and beliefs have a significant impact on our approach to selling.

By paying attention to your values and beliefs (particularly those holding you back) and taking action (if necessary), you can lay the crucial groundwork needed for a successful career in selling.

Fulfil Your Values

Values are the things that are most important to us. They might include things like autonomy, respect, honesty, trust…or even having fun!

As a sales professional, it is important to pay attention to these values because the extent to which you fulfil them is likely to have a direct impact on your sales performance.

By adopting a selling approach that supports your values or (at the very least) an approach that does not actively contradict your values, you can create the foundations for a positive attitude and high motivation when selling. In turn, this will most likely have a positive impact on your success when selling.

If ‘honesty’ is an important value, for example, you are more likely to achieve sales success by seeking opportunities that facilitate an honest approach to selling. By targeting those deals that allow you to be honest with your customers, you should develop a more positive attitude and higher motivation than might otherwise be the case.

But be aware - if you ignore your values, you may well suffer from a negative attitude and low motivation when selling. This can seriously inhibit your sales performance and, in turn, the amount of sales commission you will earn in the future.

If you value ‘trust’ but only target deals that serve to contradict this value, for example, it is likely that you will develop a negative attitude and suffer from low motivation.

By being aware of your values and actively seeking to support them, you can thus sow the seeds that will enable you to grow a successful sales career.

Align Your Beliefs

While values are the things that are important to us, beliefs are those things that we feel are true.

Similarly to values, beliefs are important because they can have a great influence on our actions and approach to selling. In turn, beliefs can have a significant impact on our ability to sell.

By holding positive beliefs about selling, you will naturally communicate more passionately and convincingly with your sales prospects. You will be more confident and inclined to plan ahead of sales and you will be much more determined to drive the close to win deals.

In contrast, holding negative beliefs about selling will most likely hinder your ability to communicate effectively with prospects. The chances are that you will be less enthusiastic about your product which, in turn, will kill most of your deals and inhibit your ability to hit your sales targets.

But, if you naturally have a negative perception of selling, what can you do about it? After all, beliefs are highly personal and can be very difficult to change…

If your beliefs are holding you back, you should actively seek evidence that contradicts any restrictive beliefs. It may seem obvious, but by seeking evidence that contradicts your restrictive beliefs, you can gradually erode these beliefs over time until you hold more positive beliefs about selling.

If you believe that every cold call you make irritates your prospects, then actively look for evidence of times when you (or others) have actually helped a potential customer when cold calling. By seeking evidence of sales where you have provided benefits to your prospects, you should soon gain a more positive outlook on selling and, in time, lay the groundwork for a more successful career in selling.

In summary, an awareness of your values and beliefs is crucial to enhancing your sales performance. Once you are aware of your values and beliefs, it is then up to you to take the responsibility to fulfil these values and actively seek evidence to align your beliefs towards a positive perception of selling. By fulfilling your values and acquiring a positive perception of selling, you can dramatically enhance your success when selling.

Written by: Steve Eungblut, Managing Director of Sterling Chase

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