You’re a 10! Now Sell Like One!

How we feel about ourselves plays a huge part in how successful we will be.  The Inner Game (how you manage yourself) is as important as the Outer Game (how you sell).  Selling is one of the toughest businesses there is.  Salespeople have to face skeptical, even antagonistic, prospects that reject their selling propositions on a daily basis.  Rejection begins to wear on salespeople and although they are encouraged not to take it personally, they often do.  How a salesperson feels about himself dictates his actions, and of course, actions determine results.  The better a salesperson feels about himself, the more positive his self-image, the more successful he will be.

However, we often don’t feel like we are a winner.  This is a result of our being role-dependent for our self-image (or self-esteem).  It works like this.  We all have multiple roles that we play in life…salesperson, father, daughter, friend, husband, golfer, and so on.  Seldom do we perform these roles to perfection (10) on a day-in and day-out basis.  We have good days and not-so-good days.  That’s why few people would say that, in the area of self-esteem, they are a perfect 10, because they know that they are seldom a 10 on a consistent basis in the performance of their roles.

Simply put, we get beat up in our roles and we let it affect our self-esteem.

Comfort Zones – If we feel like we’re “only a 6” conceptually, then we will perform in our roles, over time, at a 6 level.  Our self-image will not permit us to consistently perform at a higher level.  (Nor will it allow us to perform at a lower level.)  So our comfort zone becomes our regulator.  When we have a “good day” we feel like we were lucky, and “suspect” that we cannot sustain that performance.  So, we adjust to get back in our “comfort zone.”

The secret to performing better in all your roles is to embrace the concept that you are a 10…that you are a perfect human being that has ups and downs in the roles you play.  If you can grasp this concept (“I’m a 10”), then you will lay a solid foundation for improvement in the performance of your roles.

Here are a few ideas to improve your self-esteem.

• Associate with people who believe you are a 10 and are willing to tell you so.
• Read Think & Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill, one of the best self-help books ever.
• Use daily affirmations.
• Eliminate negative influences in your life.
• Set goals and celebrate achieving them.
• Find someone who is dealing with a difficult situation and help them resolve it.
• Volunteer to do something for a good cause.

Self-Study Assignment:  Take the time to make a list of all the successes (big and small) you have had in your life. This will have a very positive effect on how you feel about yourself.