The Flow State of Sales

Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does. Proposed by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, this positive psychology concept has been widely referenced across a variety of fields.

According to Csikszentmihalyi, flow is completely focused motivation. It is a single-minded immersion and represents perhaps the ultimate experience in harnessing the emotions in the service of performing and learning. In flow, the emotions are not just contained and channeled, but positive, energized, and aligned with the task at hand. The hallmark of flow is a feeling of spontaneous joy, even rapture, while performing a task although flow is also described (below) as a deep focus on nothing but the activity – not even oneself or one's emotions.

Flow has many of the same characteristics as (the positive aspects of) hyperfocus. However, hyperfocus is not always described in such universally glowing terms. For examples, some cases of spending "too much" time playing video games, or of getting side-tracked and pleasurably absorbed by one aspect of an assignment or task to the detriment of the assignment in general. In some cases, hyperfocus can "grab" a person, perhaps causing him or her to appear unfocused or to start several projects, but complete few.

The following six factors as encompassing an experience of flow.

• Intense and focused concentration on the present moment
• Merging of action and awareness
• A loss of reflective self-consciousness
• A sense of personal control or agency over the situation or activity
• A distortion of temporal experience, one's subjective experience of time is altered
• Experience of the activity as intrinsically rewarding, also referred to as autotelic experience

Conditions for flow

Mental state in terms of challenge level and skill level, according to Csikszentmihalyi's flow model.

A flow state can be entered while performing any activity, although it is most likely to occur when one is wholeheartedly performing a task or activity for intrinsic purposes. Passive activities like taking a bath or even watching TV usually don’t elicit flow experiences as individuals have to actively do something to enter a flow state.

Flow theory postulates three conditions that have to be met to achieve a flow state:

1.     One must be involved in an activity with a clear set of goals and progress. This adds direction and structure to the task.

2.     The task at hand must have clear and immediate feedback. This helps the person negotiate any changing demands and allows them to adjust their performance to maintain the flow state.

3.     One must have a good balance between the perceived challenges of the task at hand and their own perceived skills. One must have confidence in one's ability to complete the task at hand.

So, how does all this tie into sales?

In two ways, as an individual and as a team.

For the individual on a sales call, when you have a CLEAR goal in mind for the call (it doesn’t have to be making that sale) combined with immediate feedback, i.e. the client is providing input and reaction and the client or product/service your are offering is just outside your comfort zone, you’ll be better positioned for enter flow.

What happens when you enter flow?

Essentially you tap into your unconscious mind, i.e. your instinct, and ideas, answers and solutions will “magically” appear.

Gregg Swanson is a sales performance consultant and business coach and has authored several books and numerous articles on peak performance and creator of “Sales Strong.” Gregg specializes helping sales professionals develop mental strength for optimum sales performance. You can pick-up your complementary report, “The Most Critical Step in Sales” by going HERE. Also, pick up a copy of “The 6 Essential Factors For Business Growth” by going HERE