I had to strongly reprimand a nice young sales professional recently.

This occurred when I met my new account manager for the first time at a Fidelity office. We went to his office. He asked if I wanted something to drink. Everything was fine.

I had been seated in his office about 120 seconds when he made his blunder. Brace yourself. “Scott, when I first saw you I was worried you might think I was too young to help you. I have been through Fidelity’s rigorous training program…”

I stopped him in his tracks. In a most fatherly and firm way I leaned over his desk (I even think I pointed my finger at him…bad form on my part) and said, “The issue is not mine. The issue is yours. If you think you’re too young, you’ll project that belief on others and they will ultimately agree with you. Stop saying this kind of thing to your customers right here and right now.”

“Yes sir.”

For possibly the first time in my life, I didn’t tell someone not to call me “sir.” Sales tips and sales training can be a soft science at times. However, I knew I was right about this. No uncertainty. He needed some immediate and firm coaching. He got it and, frankly, I felt good about it. It helped that he was physically much smaller than I was.

But Scott, I Would Never Say Or Think Something Like That
It doesn’t matter whether you say it or think it (that’s Biblical I believe). If you think it, you’ve done it. Just thinking invalidating thoughts about yourself, your employer and your customers will hurt you. This kind of thinking takes all forms, by the way. There are a million variations; below are just a few examples.

Do You Ever Hear Any Of These In Your Head?

• I’m too old.
• This industry isn’t right for me.
• I’ll never be able to sell in this recession.
• Our product line is junk.
• This is a loser company.
• Our prices are too high.
• I wish I worked for competitor X.
• My customers never have the budget for anything.
• I have the dumbest customers on the planet.
• Our customer service is a joke.
• The quality of our products and services is not even close to our competitors.
• My sales manager is an idiot.
• Our corporate management is lame.

Sales Tips For Real World Successful Thinking Habits

1. If you say or think invalidating ideas long enough, they will come true. You’re committing sales suicide and not even realizing it.
2. I’m not perfect. You’re not perfect. No one is. Get real. Quit minimizing your opportunities for success by creating a foundation of negative and baseless thoughts about your customers and yourself.
3. No surprise here, but your employer isn’t perfect. Never ever will be. Oh sure, you can change jobs, but you’ll find all the same dummy-ridden-management but with different names. Stop wasting energy bellyaching about something you’ll never be able to change, no matter where you work.

Sales Blog Epilogue
I’m going to recommend a book to you in further reading below that was not sent to me as a freebie to review. I recommend very few books in this sales blog, but this one is an exception. I bought this book myself and have no financial interest in promoting it. It is not a sales training book, but it will make you more successful in sales.

It covers in detail what I’ve written about above. You won’t be able to put it down. It will permanently change how you see yourself, your employer and your customers.

Further reading:

• “The Power of Intention” by Dr. Wayne Dyer

My new book, “Comatose Management,” will be available from amazon.com and other distributors by mid-November.

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>©2009 Scott R. Sheaffer

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Tags: career, dysfunctional, habits

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