The Psychology of Selling

For many years, being a salesperson has been viewed with suspicion. Underestimating what it takes to work in a field such as that of sales, irrespective of the type of product or service being sold, is a very serious mistake to make.

Salespeople are among the most vital and essential people in any type of business. People were embarrassed to say that they were in charge of sales, and there was a strange idea of sales being a second-rate occupation, however these attitudes are quickly changing.

Now, hundreds of universities offer courses for people who want to become professional salespeople. Furthermore, the fact that sales offers competent sales people enviable economic stability, regardless of how the economy is performing overall, means that a career in sales, more than any other discipline, is enabling people to get the most coveted positions in their field. So much so, that 74% of America's “self-made millionaires” are entrepreneurs, and people who have founded and built their own business.

Furthermore, 5% of self-made millionaires are salespeople who have worked for other companies all their lives: in the field of sales, there is no limit to how much you can earn.

In sales, you only need to be a little bit better than your competition, as well as know how to differentiate yourself, in order to make an enormous difference between your income and those of your competition. The factor that makes the most difference is what is going on inside the mind of the salesperson, not where they come from, nor who their family may bed, nor where they were educated.

You have to learn to tap into your potential more, as it is estimated that, in general, people only use 10% of their potential. This will help you to amp up your performance, and push your career to the next level.

If your goal is to be in the top 10% of the best salespeople, the first thing you need to do is to understand who is already in that percentile, and try to follow their example. 

On a psychological level, you must always keep in mind that the idea you have of yourself directly influences your professional performance. This is particularly pertinent if you work in sales. You must therefore change the self-concept that you have regarding income (the beliefs that you have about yourself), and expand your comfort zone to be able to earn what you want, without ever feeling like you are having to scrape the bottom of the barrel just to find the energy to go on, or use up all your free time.

To increase your income, you need to visualise your goals, so that you can achieve them in the best possible way. Furthermore, when first starting out with this visualisation technique, you must ensure that you are setting yourself realistic and achievable goals concerning what you want your income to be.