According to Webster's Dictionary, mindset is defined as " a mental attitude or inclination". So how does that factor into developing our clients and employees as sales professionals?
Mindsets help us to understand how a person approaches problem-solving and overcoming challenges. Think of them as your basic instincts and your environmental survival mechanism. They help get us to the root of a person's attitude and predisposition. For salespeople, they can provide insight into what may be holding them back and what may be supporting their success in selling.
What are Mindsets?
Mindsets are our beliefs or mental attitude formed through our experiences, environment, and education. They help us understand how to further develop our competences on our path to success. Once a person's mindset is identified, they can become a strong incentive to modify one's behaviors. We have identified 12 critical mindsets which are used as building blocks for our sales competences.
- The Conquering mindset is ensuring nobody or anything stops one from achieving the goal.
- The Hunter mindset is someone who wants to have everything right now.
- In order to reach the full potential of Persistence, sales professionals will use failure as a reason to do better next time.
- Reading the situation is a person's ability to have a clear understanding of how others see the world.
- A person reaches the full potential of Logic by being able to follow a plan, no matter what.
- The Hunger mindset is where the salesperson is never satisfied.
- Salespeople who fully focus on Empathy connect with people and gain their trust.
- The Social approval mindset is a saleperson's need to focus on gratifying the needs of others.
- To reach the full potential of Taking control, requires the salesperson to not be dependent on anyone else.
- The Next Step mindset is where someone is continuously thinking what needs to happen next.
- To reach the full potential of the Finding the truth mindset requires understanding all aspects impacting the situation.
- Your Influencing mindset is your ability to persuade.
Mindsets Help Build a Roadmap to Success
"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."- Winston Churchill
What if you had a tool that could provide clear and intuitive results identifying your salesperson's strengths and weaknesses in key sales competences? You could then help them build a road map to sales success! The Sales Competence Assessment focuses on your salesperson's competences, in order to improve and sharpen their sales skills. The assessment is designed for people who already have at least some sales experience. It reflects their current level of competence, which means they can further develop sales skills with training and coaching.
However, competences don't provide a complete picture. Mindsets also need to be looked at to understand the full potential of a salesperson's competences.
How Do Mindsets Build Our 18 Sales Competences?
Each sales competence is made up of 1-3 mindsets. The mindsets for each of the 18 competences are used to clearly identify specific roadblocks to success in sales. They provide a clearer picture of what the person’s challenges are for each sales skill. They also help to develop a clear action plan to improve the sales skill by pinpointing self-defeating beliefs.
When competence and mindset scores are evaluated together, clear action steps can be developed. You can identify what sales competences are easier to develop and which ones may present greater challenges. We recommend a consult with a trained sales coach to interpret mindsets and their effects.
Role of the Sales Manager or Sales Coach
The role of the sales coach or manager is important. The assessment results reflect the salesperson's current level of competence; which means he or she can develop the skills in all of the 18 sales competences with training and coaching. Coaches and managers can use the report to help create a development plan for their sales people. They can also use the report to measure progress. The results reflect the salesperson's current sales skills and as they develop, the results will vary, so progress can be measured. Coaches and managers can also use the report as a tool to predict the salesperson's success.
Does the "set" in Mindset Prevent Change?
The word "set" in mindset implies that they are things that can't be changed, but they can. They are easily acquired, but often more harder to change. The first step to development is self-awareness. It is important to understand our mindset and how we approach our sales competences. Only then will you be able to develop your sales competences to be the top sales professional.
