Southwestern Sales Talk
Lee McCroskey, Director of Training
Hey. Lee again. The Sales Trainer for The Southwestern Company…remember?
I’ve been discussing how to generate confidence in a sales setting. As you recall, getting in a good, confident mental state is paramount, and you do that by 1) what you choose to focus on, and 2) what you do with your physiology. Let’s talk about the second one.
That’s right–your thoughts, your mood, your mental state–all are hard-wired into your physiology. If you’ve attended our Southwestern Company Sales School, you remember we actually practice this concept. I have the audience stand and for a moment, pretend to be absolutely confident. As the trainer onstage, I see chins up, eyes bright and focused, feet apart, shoulders back, deep breathing. The crowd assumes the posture of confidence.
Then we pretend to be depressed: everyone looks down, shoulders droop, people shift their weight to one foot, and their breathing becomes shallower. Again, as the sales trainer, I don’t have to issue body language commands-when I say, “Think sad thoughts,” the physiology follows naturally.
OK, but what do you do with this?
Before and during the sales call, you not only have to think the right thoughts, but also assume your best, most confident posture. You want your mind and your body to work together and create a great state-a peak state!
Your customers begin to take in verbal and non-verbal information about you immediately-they make assumptions about you (and your business) in the first two seconds!
So, before you pick up the phone or knock on that door, take a deep breath, put your shoulders back, look up-assume your posture of confidence. Act confident! Ponder for a moment: “How would I stand, walk, and speak if I were exceedingly confident-if I were unstoppable, if I were totally certain of my success?”
Oh, and one important caveat–it really helps to have knowledge. You can think great positive thoughts; you can compliment thoughts with a physiology of confidence, BUT you have to know what you’re doing. Another secret of becoming confident in your sales ability is preparation. As Samuel Johnson once said, “It generally happens that assurance keeps an even pace with ability.” Use what I’ve suggested, but be sure you’re prepared.
Good stuff Lee, keep ‘em coming. Its those little things like body language and attitude (which are really kind of big things) that make all the difference on a sale call.
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Lee McCroskey Reply:
November 24th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Garrett, thanks for your input–you’re right, sometimes the little things are the big things in making a sale. Attitude and body language are hard to measure or quantify, but make a huge impact.
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Thanks for this Lee. It is so important to be reminded of these things. It’s these little things that make a big difference. When one works for ones self no one is reminding you of these things. Keep them coming is there a space for me at the next sales school?
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If there is some area where I expected to learn more in sales school it was body language. I think it´s something what have really big influence on prospects. Well, at least I´ve got something to work on before my second summer.
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Ondrej: good idea. I’ll see what we can give up in Sales School to add a part on body language. Thanks for the input!
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Wondering if this blog can be emailed to someone when they are selected for the SW team. These blogs are such practical, good info for everyday life: how our physiology actually controls what we feel; the power of what we tell ourselves; provide a service and questions we can ask ourselves to see where our focus is…
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Thanks for the kind words Virgie. I suppose you could cut and paste the blog content and send it on, OR maybe just give the blog address to your rookies: http://www.swsalestalk.com Send them here!
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Is it possible to send this link along with the link to student testimonials in the welcome to Southwestern Email that students receive. This material you have posted would be a huge benefit to a lot of people. What Southwestern does is so much more than simply selling books, and the sooner students are able to grasp that the better.
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I agree that everyone should realize quickly that the Southwestern Program for college students is designed to help enrich and motivate students to be at their best all the time through small signifcant changes. It would be great to have this website promoted by all the sales managers placing it in their email signatures or just creating a website for your specific dsm base with this website as an introduction page for example. I appreciate reading the blogs even if i don’t respond, thanks for helping me become better Lee and the crew!
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Lee McCroskey Reply:
December 15th, 2009 at 10:59 am
Maurice! Thanks for the nice note. Spread the word: get SMs to RSS these blogs–everyone wins!
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