Belief is a Sales Superpower
I don’t know of a top-performing salesperson who doesn’t have an abundance of belief; in themselves, their solution, or their company.
On the other hand, there are thousands of sales reps out there who are in dire need of it. I will say unequivocally that it’s the biggest single obstacle in the way of anybody who thinks they can perform better.
What I really find interesting is that it’s almost never talked about or trained on. Companies spend thousands each year on training reps in tactics, templates, systems, and processes in the hopes that some of that knowledge rubs off and manifests itself as belief in their reps. Occasionally it does, but most times, it fails.
It isn’t the most tangible thing in the world. Perhaps it’s just too squishy of a topic for people to be comfortable with. Maybe the desire to see hard and fast KPIs and train on specific strategies is just black and white enough to win the favor of executives signing checks.
Still, I’ve talked to a lot of salespeople and executive leaders over the past several weeks, and not a single person has denied the concept's significance or importance, of the concept.
When the phrase “sell like you” came to me (and hit me like a ton of bricks) at the OutBound conference last year, I knew I was on to something. There was a ring to it that resonated with everybody I talked to (and somehow, the .com domain was available). I talked about it a little bit and used the #selllikeyou hashtag a few times, but I couldn’t find the right context to really go with it.
It wasn’t until a few weeks ago, when I revisited the concept, that I was able to put the pieces together. Sell Like You is rooted in belief. You won't do much of anything without a firm belief in what you’re doing. Sales belief is rooted in your integrity and knowing that you’re doing the right things, the right ways, for the right people, and for the right reasons.
It forms a virtuous cycle and crates momentum, like a snowball gaining mass and momentum as it rolls downhill.
This cycle is precisely why top performers stay on top of their games and consistently deliver. Failure to break into and start this cycle is why so many reps struggle to find the success they know they’re capable of.
The sale begins and ends with belief. You believe you can make the first one, and then you believe you can sell it again. Despite all of the blueprints, playbooks, and methodologies out there, none of them are worth the paper they’re printed on unless the seller believes they can execute.
We need to pay more attention to this superpower and enable sellers to do their very best work.
