3 Steps to Increasing your Sales Before you Even Walk in the Door

Our thoughts have such great power and can either kill or make a sale before you even walk in the door of your prospect or client. You can have all of the techniques and skills of a great salesperson but if your brain has already created a reality in which you're going to fail, you're toast. Belief is everything in a sales call and we don't spend nearly enough time building our belief. Think about the last sales training you participated in... how much time was spent on techniques (what you say and what you do) versus mindset (how you think and how you feel)? By no means am I saying that technique and skills aren't important because they are. However, just like in athletics, to be a great salesperson, you must have the right mindset.

Our thoughts create our feelings and our feelings create energy that cause us to act in certain ways. That energy is felt by everyone around us. If you don't believe this, just think back to a time when you walked into a room and wanted to walk right back out because the energy was so bad. You had no idea what was being discussed in the room but you could FEEL that something was off. On the flip side, I'm sure you've walked into a room and wanted to know what was going on because there was such a positive energy. What caused those feelings? Thoughts! Plain and simple. The collective thoughts of the group caused those feelings and that energy could be felt by anyone walking in and out of the room.

So, what does this all have to do with my sales calls? Let's say that right before you walk into a sales call, you received a call from your boss putting pressure on you to make a sale. If you don't make the sale, you're at risk of being put on probation or losing your job. What do you think might be going through your mind if you don't learn how to clear your mind before entering the call? Images of your family out on the street might be running through your mind or your mortgage being foreclosed. Mind you, none of these things have actually happened but these are the tricks our mind plays with us. If we keep these images in our head while we're going into the call, here's how the call might turn out?

YOUR WORDS: "Mr. Prospect, I really want to help you."

THEIR WORDS: "Mr. Salesperson, I really want to be helped."

UNSPOKEN ENERGY COMING FROM YOUR FEELINGS: "Mr. Prospect, I really need you to buy. If you don't buy, I'll be out of a job and my family will be on the street."

UNSPOKEN ENERGY THEY'RE RECEIVING: "There's something off about this situation. He/She say they want to help me, but I'm feeling something is off. I don't know if I can trust this person."

This is what we call a "double-binded message." It's when our words and our feelings don't match. If you don't think that the prospect/client can feel this then you're kidding yourself. The best salespeople in the world understand the importance of making sure their thoughts and feelings are congruent. They understand the importance of their mindset.

The following are three simple things you can do that will take no time at all but could make all the difference in the world:

VISUALIZE THE APPOINTMENT

The pictures we create in our minds are powerful. If you have a picture of your kids and family being on the street right before you walk in (or any other negative picture), it's imperative to change the mental picture. In Stephen R Covey's book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, habit two tells us that we must "begin with the end in mind." Everything is created twice: once in the mind and then in reality. The best way to begin with the end in mind is to visualize. Create a mental picture in your mind of how you wish for the call to go. This doesn't need to take a long time. In fact, it shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes. Close your eyes in your car and see the customer smiling, saying YES, and nodding their head up and down. See them engaged in every moment of the conversation. See yourself asking all of the right questions and staying engaged throughout the whole appointment. While doing this, take big, deep breathes to calm your mind. Your body, emotions, and thoughts are all connected. By controlling your breathing, you can begin to take more control over your thoughts and emotions.

EXPRESS GRATITUDE

There are two realities that are simultaneously playing our lives: lack and abundance. We have the ability to choose which side of the coin we will focus on in our lives. Whatever we choose to focus on expands. The more we focus on what is missing from our lives, the more negative we will feel. When we choose to be grateful in all circumstances, we can experience abundance in its entirety. It is impossible to feel grateful and focus on lack simultaneously. Researcher Robert Emmons, the world's leading expert on gratitude, states that "gratitude blocks toxic, negative emotions" from our lives. If you want to quickly get rid of negative emotions before walking into an appointment, do the following exercise:

1. Write down at least five things/people which you're grateful for on a piece of paper.
2. Next to each item on the list, write at least one reason WHY you're grateful for that person/thing.
3. Close your eyes and take 30 seconds to focus on each one in your minds eye. While seeing these images in your mind, try and imagine life without them.
4. Quietly express gratitude in your mind for each item.

Gratitude is one of the most important emotions we can feel. It is the number one predictor of a positive, success-filled life. Gratitude is second only to love, which leads us to our third step.

SAY "I LOVE YOU"... IN YOUR MIND

Whether in sales or in life, love is such a powerful emotion. One of my favorite books on sales is "The Greatest Salesman in the World" by Og Mandino. In it, he teaches valuable lessons regarding the power of love in sales. In the second scroll, he explains that love is the "greatest secret of success in all ventures" and "none on whom [we] call can defend against its force." I personally did the challenge and read this scroll three times a day for 30 days straight as prescribed. It made a dramatic difference in my interactions with all those who I encountered. One practice that is mentioned in the scroll is to silently say "I love you" in your mind while connecting with another person. This might seem a little weird but the power it produces is tremendous. I have won several deals by this simple practice. Og writes the following:

Though spoken in silence these words will shine in my eyes, unwrinkle my brow, bring a smile to my lips, and echo in my voice; and his heart will be opened. And who is there who will say nay to my goods when his hearts feels my love?

The power of the mind is very real. The greatest sales people in the world today have found the power in positive thinking and have learned to take control of their thoughts in every interaction. So, if you've just received news whether from home or the office that has put your thoughts in a negative tailspin, give these three suggestions a try and I promise it will make a difference. As a recap, visualize every appointment, express and get into a feeling of gratitude, and silently say "I love you." Three easy steps to increased sales before you walk in the door.

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