I’ve always been a student of selling. Even before I started my career carrying a bag for Xerox, I’ve tried hard to focus on the needs of others in order to serve them effectively. Whether waiting tables or playing lacrosse, I strongly believed in teamwork. But it’s only been in the last ten years that I have become a student of another very powerful tool that increases your chances of success in selling and virtually anything else you do. Mindfulness.
A world-renowned expert on the topic is Jon Kabat-Zinn and he explains it in this way – “Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment and nonjudgmentally”. Of course, we’ve all heard about mindfulness but many of us really don’t understand it. Even though it’s gotten an increasing amount of visibility of late, I’ve found that most people in business know little about it. And those of us who sell are even less likely to be in the know. I’ve discovered over these ten years, though, that it would serve us all well to pay mindfulness much closer attention. Because the more I’ve learned about it, the more I see its significant role in our success and truthfully, our satisfaction as well. And it deserves a deeper analysis than this article can provide, but let’s dive in the shallow end to get things started.
Have you ever lost track of what’s most important to your client due to the craziness of day-to-day selling? Ever come up short in empathy towards others? How about allowing stress to make you less than your best? Of course. Most of us have experienced all three each day by lunchtime. For selling is characterized by human interactions. People both buy from people and sell with people as well. And your ability to know and understand what’s most important to those people is a survival skill.
Enter, mindfulness and one of its key tenets – awareness. Think Kabat-Zinn’s “paying attention in a particular way, on purpose”. I spent thirty years with Capgemini, a global leader in consulting and digital transformation. A common practice at Cap, at the beginning of internal meetings, involved the meeting leader writing “BHN” on a flip chart or white board. The letters stood for “Be Here Now”, guidance for participants to be focused on the meeting’s topic – the matter at hand. Not yet a devotee, I didn’t make the connection between BHN and mindfulness – increasing the clarity of communication among people in a group setting. Consider the receiving side of communications and Kabat-Zinn’s nonjudgmental theme. Your ability to clear your head of preconceived notions is the basis for understanding. This clarity in receiving information opens you up to other points of view, free of assumptions and preconceived thoughts. On the sending side, mindfulness teaches taking the time to plan and wisely choose your words. Sounds sensible, right? Mean what you say and say what you mean. Imagine how valuable such awareness would be in communicating with your teammates and the vast crew of clients and prospects with whom you deal. And what awareness could do to build understanding about mapping your solutions to client needs. Or in critical Go/No-Go decisions. Awareness trumping emotions. BHN.
Studies show that developing mindfulness skills promotes heightened attention to suppress distractions. Whether it’s the issues that confound us in a major pursuit or the volume of information required in serving a major account, the touchpoints can be overwhelming. And ironically, the accessibility of technology meant to simplify our lives can do the opposite. What if the answer isn’t about devices, connectivity or apps but about learning how to shut it all down occasionally and direct our concentration to what really matters? As mentioned, you won’t finish this article or exit a short mindfulness podcast with game-changing results. It takes time and work. But learning the basics is a great starting point.
What about your constant companion – the daily anxiety of chasing the numbers? It’s part of the selling deal, right? Pay for play. But does it have to be that stressful, that frenzied? Can’t you be good at what you do without having your hair on fire? Mindfulness says you can. For moment-to-moment awareness, effectively practiced, weakens the demons that, in the words of Jimmy Buffett, “Snack on innocence and dine on self-esteem”. Your ability to focus on the present fortifies real observation and minimizes emotional distractions. We all have vast inner resources that lie dormant but can drive powerful change in our behaviors and attitudes. Learning how mindfulness can help you put them in play will improve your well-being and reduce your stress. Think about how that might feel.
As I mentioned, most of us know very little about mindfulness. But many blue-chip organizations have invested in and achieved positive results from mindfulness programs – firms like Apple, Intel, Google and Accenture. Forward-thinking organizations making strategic decisions to drive meaningful change for their teams with significant benefits for both the individuals and the firms. The ultimate win-win.
Mindfulness. It’s clear that it offers huge opportunity for us all. The onus is on you to determine how to put it in play. Start by taking the awareness theme to heart and commiting to do a deeper dive. For yourself, your organization and your clients. They’re all worth it.
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