Jeffrey Lipsius, Director of The Inner Game of Sales Leadership, tells us how The Inner Game can help increase sales in just 3 simple and concise steps.
– 5 mins read –
Almost all of us can recall someone in our lives who “sold” us something that turned out to be a major positive influence on our lives, such as a car, a home, or even a new experience.
However, sales professionals are consistently rated lower in prestige, honesty, and ethical standards than most other professionals. This negative perception of salespeople seems undeserved and avoidable. The stigma of sales needs addressing, especially when selling and buying is the engine of commercial growth. So, if you think the profession is long overdue an update, you’re not alone.
Timothy Gallwey’s Inner Game of Selling approach offers a simple solution to this age-old stigma carried by those who work in the sales department. It applies the same universal formula for peak-performance that Gallwey introduced to the world of sport in the 1970s. Since then, the Inner Game gave rise to the field of performance coaching.
What could it do for sales?
The simple fact is sellers are more successful when they understand their Inner Game and “get out of their own way”. How can you get out of your own way when you are selling?
3 Steps to Embrace Your Inner Game
1. Empower the Customer
The Inner Game of Selling shows that the key to sales success lies with the customer. Customers possess an innate potential for making decisions. Salespeople succeed by empowering customers to access this peak decision-making potential. This requires salespeople to turn their own thinking around from outer to inner. It involves an awareness shift from being self-conscious to being customer conscious.
The customer’s internal decision-making mindset ultimately determines the result of a selling interaction. The Inner Game shows how to understand that mindset and influence it in a positive way. Ultimately, customers want salespeople to help them make better decisions. This is why they seek out a salesperson.
2. Share a Common Goal
When salespeople share a common goal with their customers, they can work as a team. Traditionally salespeople don’t always share a common goal with their customers. Their agenda is just to persuade the customer to buy. Conversely, the customer’s goal is to make the best decision. Their two goals aren’t aligned.
This divergence between a traditional salesperson’s goal versus the customer’s goal contributes significantly to the selling profession’s reputation problem.
3. Embrace a Sales Culture
Many organizations are implementing programs designed to cultivate a more “conscious” workplace culture. They’ve come to understand just how much of an impact an organization’s culture can have on its performance. They devote time, resources, and expertise to fashion a company culture that aligns with its objectives.
One of the best ways for an organization to include their customers in an improved company culture is through the sales force. Salespeople are frequently the only company representatives that a customer will be in contact with. A sales department that’s not aligned with its company culture could undermine development efforts.
Salespeople can help organizations be more adaptive. When they’re part of a learning-oriented culture, they can provide instantaneous feedback about shifts in consumer behavior.
The Inner Game of Sales
Organizations need an approach that will support the sales department’s unique set of objectives. The Inner Game of Selling is that approach. At its core it is performance based. The Inner Game of Selling demonstrates to salespeople and sales leadership how to succeed by approaching their objectives more consciously. Sales is the easiest department for measuring that success.
Find out more about The Inner Game and unleash your potential.
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