Are your salespeople feeling scared or worried? If so be aware that they may be having "FIGHT-FLIGHT" sales conversations!
Suzy Couper
EQ Coach & Trainer | Co-Founder at Exit Smart I transform managers into emotionally intelligent leaders. At Exit Smart, we blend strategic foresight with human insight—our Heart and Mind Approach.
Your salespeople are probably not even aware that they are damaging their sales results. Flight or fight conversations are very common and extremely counterproductive.
What are "flight-fight" conversations? These are conversations that your salespeople have when they get get "triggered" . Colleen Stanley author of "Emotional Intelligence for Sales Success" refers to this as the "trigger-response-regret" loop.
Lets look at the scenario.
Salesperson is under a lot of pressure to hit her target and has a lot of internal fear.
When she receives an objection, without realising it, her reptilian brain has kicked in because it senses danger. Her heart starts to race and her hands feel sweaty. She suddenly becomes aware of an internal dialogue with herself. "Oh no! Help! This person is being so difficult!" "What will I do?" "What can I say to answer that?" "I'm doomed!".
Instead of remaining calm and approaching the objection objectively she becomes...
- Slightly defensive (fight)
- A bit sarcastic (fight)
- Slight change in tone and shifts of body language (fight and flight)
- Starts to offer discount so she can get away (flight)
- Agrees to put a proposal together before establishing the extent of the problem (flight)
All of these reactions, even if they are extremely subtle, cause a breakdown in trust and collaboration.
The trigger (the objection) which sent you into your reptilian brain happens within a split second and without knowing. The reptilian brain is all about survival and it sees the objection as an attack.
Self-awareness is critical in sales! Recognise the switch helps you manage your responses and empowers you to keep focused on selling based on value that your company brings!
To find out more, get in touch at www.salesskillsaccelerator.co.uk.
Executive Coach I Author of Leadership 5.0: The Future of Leadership I No1 Health & Wellbeing Thought Leader & Influencer with Thinkers 360 I Leadership Assessment I Facilitator I Speaker I Podcaster
4 年Self awareness is so important in every aspect of life and being on the right frequency along with living a life based on your values will be key to your success. ??
You are AWESOME??Isn’t it time your future clients saw that???INVISIBLE ?? VISIBLE??Ready to generate leads for your business on LinkedIn? Let’s go??Energy Dealer??Adventure lover??Joy finder?Your biggest cheerleader?
4 年Love this: ‘Self-awareness is critical in sales! Recognise the switch helps you manage your responses and empowers you to keep focused on selling based on value that your company brings!’ - self awareness is so powerful!!
Owner of ADM Executive Travel & Tours | World class luxury travel | UK's most qualified tour guides | Representing your company | Seamless client experience | Heart Transplant Recipient
4 年Great article Suzy. Love it! ????
Branding: We tell your story
4 年Great article Suzy Couper
Helping leaders harness the power of their MINDSET to build brilliant businesses and teams / Leadership Habit Expert / Author / Mindset Inner Circle
4 年EQ is so important in so many disciplines. People buy people - if you can’t connect on an emotional level it’s hard for anyone to buy