Are You Ready to Shift Your Sales Beliefs?

A belief is an assumed truth. Thus, everything is a belief—including this statement. We create beliefs to anchor our understanding of the world around us and thus, once we have formed a belief, we will tend to persevere with that belief.

Your belief system, like your computer, doesn’t judge or even question what you think. It accepts your thoughts as the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. When you think thoughts of failure, you’re bound to feel discouraged and hopeless. And, when you continuously worry, anxiety and fear take over causing stress and keeping you from moving forward.

We did not come into the world with any limiting beliefs or fears. When we were born, we were completely unafraid, fully expressed, and spontaneous. But as we grew up, our parents and people around us began teaching us their beliefs. They began saying things like, “Be careful!” Stop!” “Get away from there!” “No! You can’t do that!” And, the more you heard these thoughts over time, you accepted them as the truth.

I can remember, as the youngest of 5 brothers and sisters having dinner on Sundays with my family. I was a very expressive little girl with a lot to say. Many times when I would try to speak, my oldest brother would say “Keep quiet, nobody is interested in what you have to say.” To him I was his annoying little sister. But to me, he was my big brother, so whatever he said was the truth. I believed that nobody was really interested in what I had to say, so I stopped speaking up. I believed that what I said didn’t matter.

Dr. Shad Helmstetter, author of What to Say When You Talk to Yourself, writes in his book how we’ve been conditioned by repetitive, negative programming through family, friends, and articles we’ve read. He says the brain is like a “programming machine.” The mind takes what you put into it and after listening to it over and over again, believes the thoughts are real.

It all starts with our programming! It is our programming that sets up our beliefs, and the chain reaction begins. The sequence is as follows: What we believe determines our attitudes, affects our feelings, impacts our behavior, and determines our success or failure. That’s how the brain works.

When it comes to selling, you may have a belief that to successfully sell you have to be like the “slick” or “pushy” stereotype used car salesman, and you know that is not your style. You avoid learning how to sell because you believe you have to act differently and be a certain way with the client. You start saying to yourself and others “I’m not good at selling” or “I’m not the pushy type”. Your belief about selling keeps you from getting out there and selling your product.

No one was born a natural salesperson. You can successfully sell by creating a new set of beliefs and positive self-talk. First, identify what your beliefs are, when did you first start hearing these beliefs and ask yourself if they are really true? You’ll see that these beliefs were passed to you by someone else and you heard them so often, you assumed they were true.

A good way to create positive self-talk is through affirmations. An affirmation is a positive statement that represents your desired outcome. Interestingly, your subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between a real experience and a vividly imagined experience.

There’s a story about Jim Carrey, the well-known comedian and actor. When he was a struggling young comedian, late at night he would drive into the hills overlooking Hollywood and yell at the top of his lungs “I will earn ten million dollars a year by 1995!” When 1995 finally arrived, Jim was the star of the movie “Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls” for which he was paid twenty million dollars!”

As you come to the end of the year, make a list of your negative beliefs about selling (and other areas of your life). Next to each belief, write a positive affirmation that you can practice daily just as Jim Carrey did that brought him millions. We all have the power within us to change the way we think. Just by changing and practicing your beliefs, you’ll be on your way to taking a quantum leap in your business and life in 2009!

If you liked what you've read and want help in applying these steps to your business, I invite you to take your first step by signing up for a Breakthrough Strategy Session with me. If you're stuck in your business or frustrated you're not bringing in more sales, please stop suffering and call me. There is a solution! I will walk you through a step-by-step process that will give you clarity about the direction of your business, create a 180-degree turn around in your thinking about sales, and move you forward quickly. I will personally give you my one-on-one breakthrough strategies that fit you and your business. Click here to learn more.

© 2008. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission from Rochelle Togo-Figa, Professional Sales Coach, is prohibited.

If you would like to use this article on your website, or for your own ezine, not a problem; however, there’s one thing you MUST include: Rochelle Togo-Figa, The Sales Breakthrough Expert, is the creator of the Sales Breakthrough System™, a proven step-by-step sales process that will help you close more sales, sign on more clients and make more money with ease and velocity. To sign up for her free sales articles and teleclasses on closing more sales, visit www.SalesBreakthroughs.com.

Up Your Sales with a Simple Strategy

Do you have a sales strategy plan for growing your business and bringing in more sales?

The dictionary’s definition of a “strategy” is a plan of action intended to accomplish a specific goal; a method of making, doing, or accomplishing something.

Your sales strategy plan is a very clear statement of what your business has to do for you to achieve your sales goals. The wonderful thing about having a plan is it gives you a sense of control over the direction of change in your life.

Now, the type of plan I’m talking about is a plan for growing your sales and clients. If you’re serious about doubling your sales and bringing in tons more clients, you have to know how you’re going to do it.

The key is to plan, envision, and articulate what you want, and write it down. If you don’t put it into existence, you don’t own it.

Sadly, most people spend little or no time working on their sales strategy plan. Without a clear plan of what it is you want to accomplish and how you’re going to accomplish it, chances are you won’t reach all your goals.

I recently spoke to a business owner who was struggling closing sales. When I asked her how she sold her services, she said by calling people she knew. She thought if she just reached more people, she’d get more appointments, and make more money.

I asked her what else she’s doing to market her business? She said, “I’m planning to network; however, things keep getting in the way. And, I hope to create my website shortly.” She was vague and unclear about what steps to take, and easily getting sidetracked by other tasks without a clear plan to follow.

Let me share with you the process I followed to create a sales strategy plan for my client, Judy, and the results that followed:

The Situation
Judy is the owner of a tile and stone company. She dreamt of producing a website and creating a brochure; however, without clear steps to follow, she easily became distracted by the daily details of her business. Her dream looked like it was going to remain a dream.

Judy came to me because she lacked focus and direction. Without clarity and a clear sense of how to increase her sales, she was confused and overwhelmed with the responsibility of owning a business. She clearly was not running her business; her business was running her.

The Process
Early on, I had Judy create 3 specific and vivid goals she wanted to achieve in the first 3 months. With each goal she listed the action steps to take and a due date for each step. We divided the goals into business, sales, and marketing categories.

Before Judy got into action, I had her make a list of all the barriers she had that were keeping her from reaching her goals. She saw she had some fears that were keeping her stuck. These same fears were also stopping her in other areas of her life as well. I helped Judy understand these fears were not real and what needed to be done was to take action. The more she moved forward, the less fearful she felt. Judy began to feel freed up and energized about her business!

The Results
Judy now had a clear vision of what she wanted her business to look like. With her renewed energy, she continued to be more productive and in action, and the results happened almost immediately. Her dreams became real. She produced a beautiful brochure to give to her customers, created a website that professionally showcased her company, and designed a new logo. With the new company image, sales increased by 60%! Judy is now running her business; her business is no longer running her.

A clear and concise sales strategy plan provided Judy with a step-by-step process that gave her clarity and direction. She quickly started closing more sales, signing on more clients, and making more money.

With her own sales strategy plan, she mapped a clear pathway to reaching all her dreams and goals. 

If you would like to use this article on your website, or for your own ezine, not a problem; however, there’s one thing you MUST include: Rochelle Togo-Figa, The Sales Breakthrough Expert, is the creator of the Sales Breakthrough System™, a proven step-by-step sales process that will help you close more sales, sign on more clients and make more money with ease and velocity. To sign up for her free sales articles and teleclasses on closing more sales, visit http://www.salesbreakthroughs.com/.