mindful sales Archives

Mindfulness in Sales: Simply Notice

February 16, 2023

Those in sales are used to measuring results to see how they’re doing. One-hundred percent of quota. A million dollar sale. Another million to go for that trip to Aruba. Certainly, in diet and exercise programs, numbers are used to measure progress. Lost two pounds. Bench-pressed seventy pounds. Body/mass index of twenty-four.

But in mindfulness and meditation practice you don’t have these metrics to measure your results. I suppose you could use the length of time you’re meditating, but you’d likely be more successful meditating for one minute with a high quality of awareness than for twenty minutes lost in thought, so length of time doesn’t tell the whole story.

To help reduce the frustration that can come by not having metrics to show how you’re progressing in meditation, consider cultivating the intention to simply notice. If you have difficulty meditating and it’s challenging for you, notice that. If you have a wonderful experience, notice that (and realize that everything is temporary and that doesn’t mean you’ll have a wonderful experience next time). If you were lost in thought for your entire meditation time, notice that. If you forgot to notice, see if you can notice that.

Here’s how you can bring the practice of noticing to your sales calls. Let’s say you’re meeting with a client for the first time. Maybe you’ll notice the pictures on the desk, or the higher education degrees hanging on the wall. Maybe you’ll notice that you’re making a judgement about the client’s ability to purchase — and then notice that you can release that judgement, since it’s getting in the way of your path to the sale.

When you simply notice that you’re aware, you’re on the path to mindfulness. The path can have many twists and turns along the way, but the best way to stay on it is to continue to notice, one moment at a time.

Train Your Mind & Grow Your Business

February 12, 2023

Have you heard the old story about a traveller riding a wild horse? He’s clinging to the horse as they gallop past a man who shouts, “HEY! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?” The traveller replies, “DON’T ASK ME, ASK THE HORSE!” The horse represents an untrained mind, running wild and creating havoc. But here’s the good news: training the horse (your mind) can bring profound benefits.

To understand these benefits, let’s look at your internal mind-talk. Did you know that most folks have ongoing conversations in the back of their minds? (If you just thought, “Yes, I know” or even “Nope, not me!,” that’s the internal conversation I’m talking about.) I call this mind-talk “STUFF” — an acronym for Stories, Thoughts, Urges, Frustrations and Feelings.

We all have STUFF in our minds. Although STUFF helps us navigate our way in life, it can also create obstacles, especially in sales situations. Maybe you’ve told yourself the story “she only buys from my competitor” or “Friday afternoons are never productive.” Or maybe you’ve been overcome with frustration after hearing NO for the 10th time.

Now, imagine looking at your STUFF squarely in its face and seeing it clearly. Let’s say you notice a negative thought about your ability to close a sale. Here’s where you can direct that wild horse. Can you replace the negative thought with a positive one? This is the work of training the mind.

Your STUFF can also distract you. Imagine talking with a prospect, but your attention keeps being pulled to your cycling thoughts: I hope my parking meter doesn’t expire! How should I answer his objection? I really want to close this sale! Now, imagine fully focusing on customers and discovering their needs. This, too, is the work of training the mind.

Training your mind helps you become mindful and see your STUFF clearly. This clear-seeing enables you to release negative thoughts, choose positive thoughts that serve you, focus on discovering customer needs and grow your business!

Want to read more about training your mind and growing your business? Read Ignite Your Sales Power! Mindfulness Skills for Sales Professionals, available on Amazon and BN.com.

Want to learn more about mindfulness and sales? Follow me on Instagram!

Mindful Sales: Stress or Strategy?

August 15, 2018

Most sales professionals hope to know at the end of their presentation whether the customer wants to move forward. Yet, the timing doesn’t always work out that way due to reasons beyond the rep’s control, i.e., although they’d prefer to be the last vendor presenting, there might be presentations following theirs—or although they’d like to be the one to present to the board for final approval, they don’t always get the opportunity to do so.

In that waiting period between presentation and customer response, the sales representative can still reach out to the customer with a thank you note, with additional supporting material, or with anything else that makes sense. Yet, there still may be a short period of time where they’ll simply need to wait for an answer. Some sales professionals find that their minds fill with worried thoughts during this waiting period. They may think: What if they don’t accept my proposal? I need this sale to make my quota this month. If I don’t get this sale, my job is on the line. All these thoughts will do is cause stress; they won’t change the outcome of the sale. Sales professionals can only control their own actions and put their best foot forward. After they’ve explored the customer’s needs, wants and challenges—and offered their best solution—the next move is the customer’s.

Instead of stressing while waiting for an answer—remember, worrying won’t change the outcome— try strategizing instead. Consider that your customer will have a finite number of responses. Let’s take a look at four likely categories of responses.

1. The customer will say let’s move forward.
2. The customer will have an objection.
3. The customer will decide not to make a decision now, as they’re not ready.
4. The customer will tell you they’re going with someone else.

What would you do in each case?
Number one is easy: Process the sale.
Number two: Can you address the objection?
Number three: Can you explore the reasons for not being ready? If the customer is truly not ready, make sure you cycle back at a later date.
Number four: Did you miss something in the discovery process? Is there still time to go back? If not, are there other opportunities either now or in the future? Are there other departments or individuals within the organization that may have a need for your product or service?

Once you have your strategies in place, it’s time to sit back, let go of your stress, and contact a new prospect during this waiting period. Keep your energy moving, and keep your sales pipeline full.

Identify Customer Needs with Mindful Listening

August 8, 2018

Listening closely to your prospects and customers can be challenging, especially since the mind can process words at a rate of approximately 500 words per minute, but people talk at a rate of approximately 150 words per minute. Perhaps you’ve had the experience of listening to a customer and realizing your attention has been pulled away by distracting thoughts. You can use mindful listening skills to help you focus on customers, encourage them to talk, and identify their needs and challenges.

One effective mindful listening skill is the technique of paraphrasing what your customers say. I learned about this important skill while in college, working on a telephone crisis intervention hotline. During my training for the job, the supervisor’s instruction to “repeat what the callers say back to them” was confusing. I said, “You want me to repeat what the callers say back to them? Wouldn’t that be awkward?” The supervisor looked at me with a twinkle in her eye. “You think it would be awkward to repeat what the callers say back to them?” I nodded emphatically. “Yes, I do! (pause) Oooh. Now I get it.”

When you repeat your customer’s messages back, it creates understanding and shows the customer you’re listening. It also leaves room for a customer to say, “I didn’t exactly mean that, what I really meant was this.” You can either paraphrase the customer’s words throughout your conversation, or when your customer is finished answering your questions, by saying, “Just so I can make sure I understand . . .,” and then summarize what you just heard.

People love to have someone take an interest in what they say. The more you listen, the more you can learn, and the more you learn, the greater the probability of uncovering a need your product or service can fulfill. You can even practice mindful listening skills with family and friends—they’ll likely appreciate your attention to them!

Mindful Selling: Changing the “Rejection” Story

June 14, 2018

Top baseball players don’t get a hit every time they’re up to bat. If they get 3 hits out of 10 at-bats, they’re doing great.

Same with top salespeople. They don’t close 100% of their sales. They get a certain number of “no’s.”

Hearing the word “no” is part of the selling process. If customers said “yes” all the time, companies wouldn’t need salespeople; they’d only need order-takers.

But some salespeople can feel rejected and become despondent when hearing “no” all day.

Research out of The University of Michigan suggests that the brain processes rejection the same way it processes physical injury. No wonder people can become despondent!

As a career sales professional and a mindfulness instructor, I’d like to put a different spin on the idea of rejection in sales.

One of the concepts I teach in mindfulness is to become aware of the stories you tell yourself. When a prospect says no, do you tell yourself a story that you were rejected?

Consider instead that the prospect simply is not in a place to engage with you at this time.

Maybe you caught the prospect on a bad day.

Maybe the prospect buys from her brother-in-law.

Maybe anything.

If you’re a sales professional, encountering prospects who are not ready to engage is part of your job.

I recommend meeting each prospect or customer with the expectation of moving the sale forward. However, if you meet resistance, know that it’s part of your job. See if you can understand it, so you can figure out your next step.

Note that I said if you meet resistance, not if you meet rejection. Resistance is about the customer’s state of mind.

And that’s what sales is all about. Focusing on your customer’s state of mind: understanding your customers, discovering their needs, and seeing if you can serve them.

Power Your Sales with Awareness

May 24, 2018

Developing your power of awareness can help power your sales results.

Awareness can help you recognize your internal experiences, such as negative thoughts that could impede your success. For instance, if you hear the economy is in a slump, do you tell yourself a story that your sales will collapse as well? Once you realize you might be harboring a negative thought, you can release it—and replace it with a positive thought, such as “My sales remain strong in all economic conditions.”

Awareness can also help you clear your mind, so you can focus on your external experience—in a sales situation, that would be what your customers are communicating. As your customers talk, pay close attention to verbal and non-verbal cues to help you build rapport, identify needs, and recognize opportunities.

A great way to develop your power of awareness is through practicing meditation, even for short periods of time. Meditation is like taking time out from chopping the tree to sharpen the axe. Your mind is your main selling tool, so it’s vital to keep it sharp, whether through meditation or other techniques. You can find a variety of 3-minute meditations on: https://soundcloud.com/joyrains. Hope you enjoy!