By Gerhard Gschwandtner
Founder and CEO of Selling Power
As I travel around the country for speaking engagements and meetings, I hear many complaints from B2B sales executives. The complain how hard it is to make quota, how difficult it has become to motivate their salespeople, and how challenging it is to keep a sense of balance in their lives.
Two Things All Sales Leaders Need
We all want to build high performance sales teams that beat quota consistently and outshine the competition. In order to do this, we need two things. First, we need to be aware of best practices in our field. One of the reasons I host the Sales 2.0 Conference every year is to provide a forum where B2B sales leaders can gather to discover what’s working for their peers and the best technology tools available to help them achieve their goals.
Second, we need an agreement to ditch the complainer’s mindset. There’s no question that sales leadership is a tough role. But it’s also an exhilarating role. To me, the sad part about hearing stories from these overworked executives is that they’re clearly no longer enjoying their work. Some get up at 5:00 a.m. every day and take their mobile devices to bed so they can fire off messages past midnight. Their days are filled with activity, but the quality of their lives has declined. From my perspective, this is a mediocre way to live.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Within all of us lies a huge potential. SAP CEO Bill McDermott has referred to this as “inner magic.”
Why Your Mindset Matters
Everyone has an inner magic. Successful people understand how to connect with this magic and create room for it to grow. I know this because I’ve spent a lifetime studying successful people and publishing their stories in Selling Power magazine.
My education has opened up thrilling opportunities for me to spend time in conversation with visionary leaders like Zig Ziglar, Dr. Wayne Dyer, President Bill Clinton, and Oprah. When I speak with great leaders and innovators, I ask questions to find out what makes them tick. I want to know how they think, feel, and act in order to become successful.
Over the years, I’ve learned we all have three different types of mindsets.
The implanted mindset. The implanted mindset is elemental. From the time you are born and all during your childhood, your primary caretakers are constantly shaping your worldview.
The imprinted mindset. The imprinted mindset comes from what we learn in the world outside our homes. This could include what we learn from teachers, coaches, mentors, and friends, as well as what we’re exposed to through music, television, and movies. Even strangers help create our imprinted mindset.
The inspired mindset. This is where your inner magic lives. The inspired mindset comes from deep within us. It’s where our dreams, hopes, and creativity reside.
In my view, mediocrity is not the result of atrophied capabilities, but the result of a mindset that clings to the past. Winners reject mediocrity in all parts of their lives. They understand that the future requires new tools, new ideas, and new ways of operating. The person with a winner’s mindset continually adapts to what works, while one with a mindset of mediocrity continually complains about what doesn’t work.
In the coming weeks, Selling Power will publish seven guest posts here on The Future of Customer Engagement and Commerce. Each will focus on a different best practice area and will outline actionable tips to help your team become more productive and skilled. Consider this your action plan to build a high-performance sales team, packed full of salespeople who are in tune with their own inner magic.
Your mindset dictates how far you will go in life. The inspired mindset will give you the power and the courage to transform and soar to new heights. Commit now to embrace it fully so you can clear the way to greater success than you can imagine.
