We’re used to hearing stories about how professional sports players use psychology to help them win.
Well-known examples include snooker world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, tennis champion Andy Murray, Olympic gold medal-winning cyclist Victoria Pendleton, and the England Women’s Football Team.
There is widespread understanding of how the right mindset can turn a good sports person into a great one. Yet mindset training is far less common in other areas. If it can help sports stars become champions, consider the impact it could have on sales teams and performance.
Sales training mindset
Sales is a performance-driven role, governed by results, so it can seem counterintuitive to focus on what causes those results. However, sales teams need strong motivation and a healthy mindset. When numbers are under threat, the instinct is often to revert to sales methodology. In reality, developing a growth mindset in sales teams can be a far greater game changer.
Overcoming the chimps
One of the biggest challenges to a sales mindset is what psychologists call the “chimp” – the limbic system that governs fight, flight or freeze responses. Thousands of years ago, this response helped humans survive. In modern society, however, it often works against us, particularly in sales environments.
Rather than supporting a positive mindset, the chimp can trigger unhelpful thought patterns such as self-doubt, imposter syndrome and avoidance in the face of setbacks. Over time, this erodes motivation and confidence.
How your chimp sabotages you in sales meetings
These behaviours stem from evolutionary survival instincts:
- Fight: Trying to impress customers with superior knowledge, often resulting in an ego-driven information dump.
- Flight: Rushing through meetings to escape the situation as quickly as possible.
- Freeze: Becoming stuck, focusing on small talk rather than business, often leading to flight behaviour.
The key is developing self-awareness and a growth mindset to recognise and overcome these patterns. This allows focus on the task at hand while building confidence and resilience. That’s why investing in sales training that develops a growth mindset is just as important – if not more so – than traditional sales training.
Testimonial
“The course was the best sales, mindset and confidence-building course I have attended. The real work starts with implementing the techniques and practices we discovered, and that began immediately. The breakout sessions were highly engaging and reinforced that many of us face similar challenges.”
Justin Pugh, VMware