I thought you might want to take a look at this interesting comment that was sent to me last week from Mark, a recent Mastery client:

    “Ari, I’m feeling good about the Mindset because I enjoy helping people. I truly believe that the Mindset is for the best and will translate to sales if I can develop a trusting relationship with my prospects. But, sometimes I have the feeling that sales are slipping away from me because this feels more like a “laid-back” attitude than the type of traditional selling that I’m used to.”

    This issue of feeling “laid-back” can sometimes come from initially being exposed to the core principle behind the Mindset, letting go of focusing on making the sale.

    It’s a puzzling mental challenge because most of us have been taught to focus on one thing when we sell -- make the sale.

    That’s why I wanted to share with you some insights as to why not focusing on making the sale is the key to unlocking the sales game.

    It’s important to keep in mind that the idea of mentally letting go of focusing on the sale doesn’t mean you don’t have a goal and just wander aimlessly through a conversation with your potential client.

    It just means you have a different goal -- to learn the truth.

    When you’re focused on making the sale, you’re looking forward to something that you hope will happen in the future.

    Which means you can’t be fully focusing on what’s happening in the present moment, because we can only focus on one thing at a time. (Forget all the wishful thinking these days about “multitasking”-- our brains just can’t handle it.)

    The problem with focusing on making the sale is, your prospect senses that you’re pushing your own agenda, so they start feeling they have to defend themselves. Or they need to try and disengage from you in some way.

    The Unlock The Game Mindset resolves this conflict by making it easy for your prospect to tell you the truth about their situation.

    How can this work for you?

    It’s actually quite simple...All you have to do is stay focused on what your prospective client is saying.

    It’s like racehorses wearing blinders -- to keep them focused on the finish line. But now your finish line isn’t the sale, it’s the truth.

    Do you see where I’m going with this?

    Traditional sales approaches actually numb you to what’s happening because you think you’re supposed to be constantly probing, strategizing, persuading, and trying to close.

    Not only that, you’re also supposed to keep your professional “salesperson” mask on at all times rather than having a simple conversation, one human being to another.

    How can you feel relaxed and natural when you’re supposed to be acting in a way that’s not your natural self?

    It’s hard to be your natural self when you’re putting pressure on yourself, and you’re putting pressure on your prospects (even if you think you aren’t, because sometimes sales pressure can take very subtle forms).

   Also, traditional approaches are so engrained that, in some cases, you may not even be aware that you’re pressuring your prospect.

    The Mindset makes it much easier for prospects to be open to your solutions. And that’s what happened with Mark:

    "I recently did a presentation to a group of potential clients and didn’t talk once about what I sell. I decided to address situations that I knew they deal with every day and I identified possible gaps and problems. That meeting turned into 4 individual appointments."

    Focusing on the Truth Instead of the Sale

    The irony is, when you focus on the truth, you end up with more sales. Here are 5 key reasons why:

    1. You’ll find yourself able to listen at a deeper level to what your prospect is trying to tell you. They’ll feel more comfortable being open with you because they’ll know that the two of you are simply having a conversation. And you might hear things that will open the conversation to you better solving their problem.

    2. You take the pressure off yourself because you won’t be deflecting your energy and attention into thoughts and hopes around “I gotta make this sale”. When you give up feeling as if you have to “pitch,” you’ll feel more relaxed, and so will your prospect.

    3. If sales pressure starts creeping in, you’ll notice it because your prospect will withdraw and you’ll automatically know how to diffuse the situation. You might even feel comfortable saying you’re sorry if you said or did something to make them feel any pressure from you. This will help them feel it’s safe to go on exploring their problem and your solution with you.

    4. Objections won’t throw you. Instead, you’ll welcome them because they give you more insights into your prospect’s real concerns. You won’t feel pressured to counter or deny their “objections.” You’ll acknowledge what they say to be true, which validates and reopens the conversation, and gently suggest if they might be open to a different perspective.

    5. You’ll make better use of your time and energy. If you learn that your solution isn’t a good fit with your prospect, the two of you can agree to leave it at that and perhaps connect again in the future. You won’t be left in “chasing” limbo. You’ll know where you stand, so you can let go and move on. Plus...even if there’s no fit right now, there might turn out to be one later. Or your prospect may think of you when someone they know needs the solutions you provide. 

    Making The Shift

    If you can let go of the goal of the sale and focus on truth as part of your thinking on a day-to-day basis, as thousands of Mastery clients have, it will transform your experience of selling to a much more positive one.

   And, you’ll experience stronger, more consistent sales results over time.

    To your success,

    

    P.S. If you’re experiencing your own “sales blinders,” I’d love to know what they are. Feel free to share your comments with me here. 

Is Selling Painful For You?  It's not your fault -- and there is a better way  Is this how selling is starting to feel like for you? Old "tried and true" cold calling and sales techniques that were once successful have completely lost their effectiveness over the years. That's why I developed a new sales mindset and cold calling approach that will quickly and automatically put you ahead of the game and instantly in a league above your competition. OLD SALES GURU MYTH # 1  - "Cold calling is a numbers game."  But, sales is only a numbers game when all you know is traditional selling. Yes, you can call people over and over, chase them until they listen to you so that you just go away. However there is a better - easier method of building trust and getting your product or service message across - all on one call. Simply by changing your sales approach you'll make FEWER CALLS and MORE SALES. OLD SALES GURU MYTH # 2 - "Use a sales script to cold call." People can tell when you're reading from a script, even if you think you're pretty good at it and getting away with it. There's nothing personal about it and people can pick that up. Being artificial just puts you into the typical "Salesperson" category. If you can learn to get your message across in a different way, you'll eliminate the negative triggers that can lose your sale within seconds. OLD SALES GURU MYTH # 3 - "Focus on closing the sale." Are you "going in for the kill" with your closing sale technique? - If you are, you could end up killing your deal instead. Old sales techniques do nothing more than pressure the client or prospect, and as a result they naturally want to retreat away from that pressure - and that pressure is you. By learning to avoid the "push and pull" dynamic between you and your prospect, you'll be able to move the sales process forward to get the result you want. Welcome to Unlock The Game™  Unlock The Game is a radically honest sales and cold calling approach based on integrity and common sense. It challenges traditional sales thinking and helps you achieve better sales results. It's the missing link -- a new mindset and language that converts selling into a natural conversation between you and your prospect. It offers you a new way of thinking about selling, from cold calling -- the most dreaded selling experience of all -- to the end of the sales process. You don't have to abandon the selling skills you already know -- Unlock The Game gives you a new approach and new tools to help you let go of old behaviors that bring you negative results. It's incredibly effective. Best of all, it's easy to learn.   "Unlock The Game is a breakthrough that takes the rejection out of cold calling"   "In a new age of frustrating and difficult selling challenges, more specifically the fear of cold calling, and starting new conversations without feeling rejected, Unlock The Game gives us all the answers to a natural way of engaging new prospects over the phone. Keep up the good work Ari!" Brian Tracy is a leading authority on personal and business success. As Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, he is the best-selling author of 17 books and over 300 audio and video learning programs.        Brian Tracy  Want to learn more? Get FREE Access to The Teleseminar That Put the Old 'Sales Gurus'  Back Into Sales Pre-School!      Learn how to:   Make less cold calls - and get better results   Rip up your sales script and easily get your message across    Change from the "Dreaded Salesperson" to a trusted advisor in a matter of minutes    Get rid of your "Fear of Phone" once and for all    Stop chasing prospects and gain the respect you deserve  Take The Free Test Drive:  Enter your First Name, Primary Email, Phone Number and Your Selling Challenge below to get the first of your 10 free Unlock The Game cold calling audio mini-lessons:     First Name Last Name Primary E-mail Phone Number Your Selling Challenge:   SECURE AND CONFIDENTIAL         (Your email address will be 100% protected and will never, ever be shared.) To your success,    Email to a Friend   Print this Page