The Salesperson Mindset: The Quality of Security

For sales today, a mindset is at least as important as a skillset, and I refer to this mindset as social intelligence. In our ongoing series on this vital topic, we have already discussed the qualities of self-responsibility and individuality.

Now let’s look at the next quality: security.

Salespeople and Security

At least when it comes to making a living and having a life, there are very few things people want as much as security. This is especially true of a salesperson, who is already taking a great deal more risk than the average employee on a job; at least a good part of their pay (and many times their whole paycheck) is dependent on commissions, and how much they sell.

No other normal professional make a living like this or takes this kind of risk. Can you picture a heart surgeon not being paid until the successful completion of an operation? Or an airline pilot until a flight is successfully made?

There is already a high turnover in sales–according to at least one source approximately 25 percent of salespeople are lost per year, about half through quitting and half through being fired. So of course security is going to be a serious issue when it comes to sales.

Security is also obviously important to company management (VP, senior executives and the like)–only with a larger, less personal scope. They’re looking at the security of the whole company, its revenue, and bottom line, as opposed to the salesperson’s security which is more intimately personal.

Security and Self-Confidence

Security has a direct relationship with self-confidence. For example, when you are climbing a mountain, you have a rope around your body that is attached to stakes in the mountain. You are then more confident in climbing that mountain because you are secured by the rope.

It should be noted that many salespeople–especially when they’re on straight commission–are operating without that kind of security.

In any case, without security, it’s very hard to be self-confident. In fact, if you look around in society, people operating with a lack of security are quite unhappy.

Security and Trust

Security and self-confidence have an even deeper dimension. You might never have realized it, but it is only when you are secure in what you are doing that that you really create trust.

People see how secure you are in the product or service you are selling, and in your sales skills, and they tend to trust you. Turn it around–have you ever dealt with a salesperson that was obviously insecure? You probably didn’t trust them very much, if at all. So you can see that security and trust go hand-in-hand.

When salespeople have security and are building trust in themselves, in their products, and in their companies–they are operating from a different mindset.

What is the opposite of trust? As we discussed at length in our ebook Emotions in Sales, the opposite of trust is fear. And we can see this in sales–when a salesperson doesn’t have that security, that confidence, they are afraid as they sell. This obviously doesn’t assist them very much in closing a sale.

Additionally, when you’re more secure, you’re more willing to make mistakes–from which you learn and become better. If you’re less willing to make mistakes, you’re again showing more fear than trust and security, and you don’t learn as much.

CRM

For all of these reasons, a salesperson must count on being able to calculate the risk and probability of leads converting, and opportunities closing. When salespeople have a tool that allows them to readily see how secure they are, it means everything. This is exactly the benefit that Pipeliner CRM provides. Right at the front, you can see your target and how you are progressing to it. You always know how well you’re doing.

As a salesperson, be secure. It, of course, starts with your knowledge–of your craft, and of your product or service. Make sure you utilize the tools, too, that will truly back up your security.

Find out more about Pipeliner CRM–the CRM solution that totally backs up your sales security.