Is it a mindset issue or a skill issue?

This posting is prompted by a discussion with a prospect a few weeks ago when we were discussing how to improve the performance of his existing sales team. The prospect is extremely keen to have his sales team use a particular sales methodology and focus any training delivered on skills training. The prospect clearly stated that they didn't want any training on mindset for his sales team.

The meeting with this prospect really made me reflect as many companies still don't want to deal with the real issues which impact on the performance of their sales teams. It is all very well training people on a particular methodology. What is going to set you apart as a business is when you invest in training which clearly deals with the mindset of your sales people. Mindset training deals with the psychological barriers that prevent salespeople asking the tough questions. If we don't address these issues, it stops salespeople executing on the chosen methodology. Sales training needs to work on getting salespeople comfortable, asking the tough questions, to get their prospects uncomfortable.

The mind is very powerful and your mindset can have an enormous impact on the outcome. In sales, a salesperson’s success is 80 per cent attributed to their mindset. There are many examples of limiting beliefs. Let's consider just one, "the need for approval" This is all to do with a salesperson's need to be liked. If this is stronger that their desire to close a sale it can cause problems. People who have a high need for approval don’t like asking the tough questions or make the customer feel uncomfortable in any way, They can’t afford to be held back by the need for approval or the fear of confrontation.

Successful sports teams often talk about creating a culture of success and a winning mindset. How often do we see a team which on paper has the more skillful players beaten by a team with less skillful players. This is all to do with mindset and truly showing up. You have got to have belief and the desire to want to do something to be successful. You can provide your team with all the skills training in the world. Like a sports team if they enter the meeting with a prospect or client with the wrong mindset and their head filled with limiting beliefs, then it won't be a success.

So the next time you are thinking of investing in developing your sales people to improve sales performance, ask yourself the question; are we dealing with the real issue and should we move away from purely focusing on more skills training, to focus on really dealing with the mindset issue.