What does developing mental toughness deliver for sales and business?

There’s a significant range of benefits to developing mental toughness in salespeople which fall into four main categories, each having a direct impact on the overall success of the salesperson and the organisation.

Category 1 – Performance Improvement

Sales is a high-performance industry and one characterised by stress, pressure and challenge. Salespeople don’t train for some future planned event but must perform every day and be at their best (or at least present their best) during every customer touch.

·   Improvements in performance… 25% of overall performance is explained by their degree of mental toughness. For a single personality to be accountable for that degree of overall performance is significant.

·   Better planning and preparation… improving the chances of sales success and delivering the good things that go with that success.

·   More goal and target focused… essential tools for the mentally tough salesperson as they review, reflect and go again.

·   Dealing with challenge and change… even if it’s a client changing their mind!

·   Greater sense of control… believing they can control much of what is around them.

·   Greater self-efficacy… more open to new ideas because of a greater belief they’re able to capitalise on those ideas.

·   Greater tenacity… better equipped to deliver on promises made to themselves and to others.

·   Desire to continuously improve… wanting to be the best they can become and making the necessary commitments and sacrifices to deliver on that promise to themselves.

What does all this mean to the salesperson?

They’re focused and direct. They’ll do the things other salespeople are more reluctant to do such as prospecting and will keep going in the face of resistance. They’ll identify the things they can control and not spend much time worrying about things they can’t control. When obstacles are presented, they’ll work to find ways round them, over them or through to meet their objectives.

This means they’re much more likely to hit target which delivers...

More revenue.

More profitability.

More money!

Greater security.

Greater expertise building transferable skills.

Higher recognition.

Better reputation.

In short, more freedom and choice!

Category 2 – Sales Agility

This is about adopting positive behaviours and having a ‘can-do’ mindset.

·   Will give things a go... prepared to try new things to see what transpires and what can be done with whatever the ‘new thing’ is.

·   Accepting risk more positively… accepting the outcome and moving forward having learned the lesson.

·   Sets higher goals and targets… sights are set higher by the mentally tough salesperson.

· Volunteers more readily… seeing what lessons can be learned from trying something new.

·   Takes responsibility and doesn’t blame others for any lack of performance… knowing they’re in control of their own actions and have what it takes to succeed.

·   Sees the glass as half full!

·   Greater leadership qualities… willing to push back boundaries having the self-belief to deal with setbacks, criticism and challenges.

What does this mean?

They know they’re not the finished article and work to get nearer to being the person they want to become. They’ll push the envelope constantly looking to set new standards of performance and achievement. Importantly, they’ll be part of a team and contribute significantly to team activities.

This means they’ll be…

More engaged with the activities and also engage better with clients and colleagues.

Willing to try things which creates further opportunities for themselves and those around them.

Achieving greater recognition of and more open to opportunities.

Looking within for answers.

In short, they’re in demand!

Category 3 - Wellbeing

Because developing sales occurs in a high-pressure environment, there’s a constant need to deliver high-level performance. But balance is always needed to avoid burnout.

·   Better equipped to deal with stress and stressful situations… ensuring the inevitable troughs in sales performance will be shorter and shallower.

·   Sleeping better… better rested and more able to face the stresses of the day.

·   More assertive… better equipped to deal with difficult people and situations and in the sales world, there’s no shortage of difficult people and situations!

·   Sees the behaviour of others differently… doesn’t take the behaviours of others personally.

What does this mean?

Simply, they deal better with the difficulties of a sales role and perform at a higher level, for longer with less down time!

Category 4 - Aspiration

Pulling together the elements of performance, agility and wellbeing explains why the mentally tough are a more aspirational group of people. They feel they control much of what’s around them, are prepared to take greater risks, to set goals and do what’s necessary to achieve those goals.

Whilst there is much discussion on the benefits and limitations of mental toughness and mental toughness development, it really is true that, in a sales environment, the mentally tough are better equipped to deliver success.

The rigours of sales don't make physical demands on salespeople... sales success is almost entirely about mindset! So many salespeople (and others) are struggling in the current climate. But there is a proven solution out there... researched, validated and available to everyone!

If you'd like more information on how mental toughness can be applied in the challenging world of sales, join us for the first in a series of webinars in conjunction with the Association of Professional Sales.

 For more information and to register, click here: 

https://lnkd.in/dMnSAer

‘We absolutely agree that mental toughness is key to success in the demanding world of sales.’ (Mike Gibson, Chief Operating Officer, Association of Professional Sales)