In discussing different aspects of a salespeople’s growth last week, the sales director and I debated the fundamental gaps that continue to emerge.

We agreed those gaps included instances where the ability to speak with senior contacts was lacking, how addressing groups in a corporate presentation lacked compelling involvement, vital information was being left on the table because salespeople weren’t able to articulate questions well enough, the ability to translate benefits that were openly discussed internally  into external commercial value was getting lost and the list goes on…

So what is it that prevents salespeople from going the distance?

Well there are, believe it or not, psychological reasons. No, I’m not going to “Dr Phil” you, I am going to share with you those combined fears common amongst  ALL salespeople and don’t tell me you haven’t experienced any of these.

• Fear of not having the right answer or any answer at all
• Fear of not being able to reach into the memory banks, find the answer and articulate it clearly and fast enough
• Fear of actually saying the completely wrong answer
• Fear of stuffing up completely and saying something that is totally irrelevant and socially unacceptable
• Fear of looking like you don’t know what THEY are talking about
• Fear of ‘what if I didn’t hear them correctly’ and I have missed a vital piece of information

The primary fear all humans have is the fear of not being loved, followed closely behind and feeding into it anyway, is the fear of not being enough.

So get over yourself, understand that you can change with the tiniest of tweaks here and there, find someone to work with who gets this at a grass roots level – then you’ll be unstoppable!!

Be Bold, Brave and Brilliant

 

 

 

Bernadette McClelland is a Keynote Speaker whose message for businesses, sales teams and associations is based on mastering 'absolute certainty in an environment of absolute uncertainty'.

Her signature keynote 'ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY - FINDING YOUR BRAVE' is ideal for those environments looking for fearless leadership, shorter sales cycles and higher performance.

Her business, 3 Red Folders is a sales force development company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia designed to create sales centric cultures through sales strategy, process and psychology.

She is an award winning speaker, coach and author having proudly coached Harvard MBA students on their sales enablement curriculum, been the Master Asia Pacific coach for Anthony Robbins across twelve countries, authored five books on leadership and sales transformation, won a coveted Telstra award for Business Excellence, recognised as one of the Top 35 Most Influential Women In Sales globally and continually shares her ideas around behaviour, the brain and business growth on stages in the UK, Europe, Thailand, India, NZ, Australia and North America.

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Image courtesy of Quicksandala