Control Your Self-Talk to Close the Sale

Baseball is said to be 70 to 80 percent pitching. The only time the player has total control is before the pitch is delivered. That is the magic moment to shape the event and maximize the opportunity for success. Baseball pros take advantage of that moment.

The same is true in sales. Before making contact, the salesperson can also seize the moment through proper mental preparation and planning. He or she can actually create the attitudes and emotions that set the stage for high performance. One surefire way to do this is by taking control of your own self-talk.

Self-Talk Choices: Test your mental patterns

Before every call there is a wide range of alternative ways to talk to yourself. Below is a sales scenario featuring a stockbroker who is about to call a prospect. Read about her and then select the Self-Talk alternative that is closest to how you might talk to yourself if you were the stockbroker.

The Stockbroker and the Entrepreneur

A little over a year ago, Jane Scott began her career as a stockbroker for a major firm that offers a wide variety of products and financial services. She has been moderately successful to this point, establishing clients among her friends, family contacts and some company-generated leads. Her current clients have yearly incomes that range from $25,000 to $75,000.

Last week, a friend gave Jane a referral, Mr. Clark, who has started and sold several businesses and currently owns a very successful manufacturing company with 250 employees. Jane’s friend has given her name to Mr. Clark and told him that Jane would be contacting him.

Self-Talk Number One

“This is probably going to be a waste of time. He earns 10 times as much as I do, and for all I know, he started his first business before I was born. How will he ever respect anything I say? If he’s nice, he’ll just patronize me. If not, this will really be embarrassing. He’ll never trust me with his money.”

Self-Talk Number Two

“This call is going to be successful. Mr. Clark is going to like me and want to meet with me. He’s going to become my client.”

Self-Talk Number Three

“My friend said that Mr. Clark is totally devoted to his business which is growing rapidly. This is just the kind of person I can be the greatest help to. He probably doesn’t have the time or knowledge to maximize the management of his personal investments. I work for an excellent firm that offers the range of products he needs. I’m constantly studying and I’m aware of the market, tax changes and new financial products. I can work harder than anybody for Mr. Clark.”

The Effects of Self-Talk

If you chose number one, you focused on your disadvantages and mentally pictured negative results. This is very likely to cause increased tension and reduce the energy and persistence necessary to close a sale.

Self-Talk Number Two: This self-talk is better than number one because it can trigger more confidence and initial motivation. The downsides of this overly-positive, affirmation-style of self-talk are that sometimes people use it at the expense of good planning and are then mentally unprepared for the setbacks that could occur. Also, they often repeat the phrases but may not really believe them.

Self-Talk Number Three: Salespeople who regularly use this type of precall self-talk consistently achieve the best results. By using realistic, believable building blocks, they create a focus on positive possibilities. This self-talk generates confidence and determination, and reminds the salesperson to focus on the customer’s needs.

Most of us have a mixture of mental habits and self-talk patterns, and may at different times use parts of all three types. To choose and use the most helpful precall self-talk on a regular basis, salespeople need to be aware of and use the following guidelines.

The Four Steps of Self-Talk Sales Training

Step 1: Awareness: What do I actually say to myself when I’m preparing for calls?

Step 2: Evaluation: Is what I’m saying to myself and focusing on helping or hindering my sales effectiveness?

Step 3: Replacement and Improvement: What could I say to myself that would be more useful and help me reach my goals?

Step 4: Repetition: How can I make this new self-talk an established part of my inner vocabulary and an automatic mental skill?

In the early stages of mastering precall preparation, I strongly recommend writing out the self-talk that will polish your performance.

Professional Sales Preparation Form

Prospect/Customer situation:

Goals:

Emotions and attitudes that will help you reach your goals:

Useful Self-Talk:

Other Actions:

The precall preparation form above is a useful format. If Jane Scott, the stockbroker, had filled one out it might look like this:

Professional Sales Preparation Form

Prospect/Customer Situation:

Calling on Mr. Clark, a successful businessman, for the first time.

Goals:

1. Remain relaxed and confident.

2. Identify Mr. Clark’s needs for my products and services.

3. Focus on the benefits that my firm and I can provide.

4. Arrange an appointment to meet with Mr. Clark.

Emotions and attitudes that will help you reach your goals:

1. Relaxed concentration.

2. Confidence in myself and my firm.

3. Desire to help Mr. Clark and confidence that I can.

4. Enthusiasm.

5. Friendliness.

Useful Self-Talk:

Mr. Clark is very involved with his rapidly growing business. He probably lacks the time and the knowledge to beneficially manage his investments. I feel I can be an asset to him. I work for an excellent inn that offers the range of products he needs. I can work harder than anyone else for Mr. Clark.

Overcoming precall procrastination self-talk also can be used to increase motivation to make calls. Your level of motivation to start and complete any task depends largely on your focus and Self-Talk about that task.

If you find yourself procrastinating about making calls or having trouble getting started, make a list of all the rewards and benefits to you of making the calls.

Below is a list I use in my self-talk sales training seminar:

Benefits/Rewards: Prospecting by Phone

I can’t lose what I don’t have. Any prospect I gain is one more than I have now.

Phone calls lead to appointments; appointments lead to sales; sales lead to referrals.

I’m widening my base of contacts.

I’m teaming about the marketplace.

I can improve my phone technique.

I can practice and experiment with new techniques.

If I learn to do the things other people don’t like to do, I’ll get ahead in selling.

My manager will appreciate my efforts.

The people I call need my products and services.

I can inform and help them.

I like meeting and talking to new people.

It will feel good to be disciplined enough to do this.

I’m going to reward myself when I finish.

Use this as a start and add some specifics related to your sales world. Keep the list handy and read it everyday.

Dr. Seldman is the author of Self-Talk: The Winning Edge in Selling, self-instructional sales training materials, and Performance Without Pressure (in press), a parent’s guide to developing achievement attitudes and skills in children. For more information, write Martin J. Seldman, Ph.D., 683J West Broadway, P.O. Box 431, Granville. Ohio 43023, or call 6141587-2467.