Sales Mindset vs. Sales Training
"Sales Mindset vs. Sales Training"
One of the most important parts of the sales process, and one that is often overlooked, is mindset. In this post, we will discuss what a sales mindset means versus what sales training entails and why they are both equally vital to succeeding in a challenging market.
You can learn more about these two aspects of achieving success in business through reading our blog post on the subject!
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When you think about all of the different types of people who have ever worked as a salesperson, it’s easy to see that they're all very different from each other. Some are extroverted, some are introverted, some have great people skills, others don't. Some come from a corporate background. Some come from a non-corporate background. Some have formal education in the field of marketing and sales. Others have no such formal education. People differ in all of these ways and more when it comes to working as salespeople.
When you think about how one person is able to achieve success as a salesperson while another isn't, it often comes down to their sales mindset versus their sales training that has helped them succeed in the past or not so much be successful at times when they should be. The sales mindset is an outlook or philosophy that you adopt to help you succeed as a salesperson. The sales training is training that has been designed by someone else and has been proven to help others achieve success as a salesperson.
It's true that there is some overlap between these two aspects of what it takes to succeed in this business, but the difference between them remains key when it comes to understanding how people become successful at selling and the factors that influence their success above all else.
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In this post, we will consider several different scenarios where someone might have both a great sales mindset, but not necessarily well-trained sales skills or vice versa. Let’s consider a few examples.
Examples of the Importance of Having a Sales Mindset
How might one person be successful at selling and another not so much in spite of them both having great sales training ? We have all heard of and probably have come across salespeople who possess superior technical and consultative skills, however they don't necessarily possess the right mindset to succeed at selling. They may have a service or product that is priced well within their customers' price range, but they aren't able to close a sale because they don't believe in themselves, are too hesitant to ask for money or are too stuck in their ways to tweak their approach or seek new ways of doing things when needed.
Other salespeople may have great sales skills, but they have not been taught any sales mindset whatsoever. They lack confidence and believe that they should work off of other people's methods and not their own ideas. They are often quite shy, introverted and more oriented toward the technical aspects of their product than the marketing aspects. As a result, when it comes to closing a sale, they are very ineffective in accomplishing their goals as a salesperson.
Examples of the Importance of Having a Sales Mindset in conjunction with Sales Training
Now here's an example that is a bit different, but it still works along with this idea. We can look at it from the perspective of having a good sales mindset and having not so great sales skills.
Let's say that you have had some time to learn the ins and outs of how to close a sale as a salesperson. Your customers are saying all the right things about your product and you're getting more training in this aspect for your performance review next year, but you’re not closing any more sales than usual. If this is happening, it might be a result of you not having a good sales mindset and using your training to succeed. Perhaps you believe that it's not really your responsibility to ensure that the sale happens. Perhaps you are thinking of other things when it comes time to ask for the sale or close the funding. Whatever your thought process is at that moment, if it's not focused on succeeding as a salesperson, then you're much more likely to fail than if you were able to take control of this aspect of the sales process yourself and were able to remove these kinds of thoughts from your mind before they took control over you.
The sales mindset is what enables you to rise above your own mental self-doubt and manage the process of closing the sale for you. These kinds of feelings and thoughts will ultimately hold you back from being successful as a salesperson if you are not able to use these thoughts as a motivating factor in how you close a sale.
The Sales Training Example
Let's consider another example, this one being from the perspective of having a good sales training and not so great sales skills. Many people who learn how to sell often don't completely understand how to apply their training outside of their area of expertise. They may be very good at closing one sale, but are not as successful the next time they sell something. They may believe that it is because they don't have enough training or aren't good at sales.
This might be the case, but there's another possibility. Perhaps they know how to close a sale but haven't been taught how to conduct themselves properly in a sales environment outside of their training and this has led them to believe that they should be able to just wing it and get their business done with little need for effort or thought on their part.
If this is the case, then you could be successful in your sales training, but not necessarily succeed in real-world sales because you are not being properly guided with both your training and mindset to ensure that you are applying your skills in ways that promote long-term success.
It's true that there is overlap between the two of these factors as well. Having a great sales mindset will mean that you have some good sales training and vice versa. The difference remains key, however, when it comes to understanding how salespeople become successful at selling and how they can get better at what they do day after day until they reach the level of success they desire.
The sales mindset is an important part of being a successful salesperson, which means that it's important to understand what this aspect of the sales process really means and how you can make it work for you in your own personal selling career. You should be able to see how and why this is such an important concept to understand if you are thinking about becoming a better salesperson or a business owner who sells products or services.
If you don’t have the right mindset, then no amount of training will really help you. This is because your mindset will lead you to either not apply yourself to the tasks involved with being a good salesperson or fail at doing so after having received some kind of training.
Conclusion
The sales mindset is a very important factor to consider when it comes to being a successful salesperson. When you understand what this aspect of the sales process means and how to make it work for you, you'll be able to see how this will have an impact on your ability to succeed at selling no matter what business or industry you choose.
If you are looking for a new career in sales, whether full-time, part-time or freelance, the information in this article should be of benefit to you. Now that you understand what a good mindset can do for your success as a salesperson, use this newfound knowledge to succeed just like so many others before you have.