Why Identity And Sales Success Are Linked.

What do you do when your sales targets are not achieved despite having been through a sales training and coaching program? This is a situation no-one wants to be in.

Sales performance is affected when your identity is incongruent with your role as a salesperson. Being incongruent could be a temporary issue, and if you are currently experiencing this, you will want to fix it urgently. A lack of conscious identity can attract sales inhibitors such as low-self-worth and low-self-confidence.

Conversely, salespeople who have created a strong identity combined with sales competence often become top sales producers.

So what is identity?

Identity is who you believe you are, the way you think about yourself, the way you are viewed by the world and the characteristics that define you. It is being the kind of sales person who has the qualities to do what needs to be done to achieve the desired outcomes. This may read like a simple thing to do but is far from it.

The reason being, identity is internal and therefore unconscious, so behaviours whether effective or not are reflected unconsciously to the external world. This is why if a salesperson has low self-worth, and from experience some are good at hiding it, no amount of sales training will solve the problem. For example, business development skills not applied post course. When questioned excuses are used and not limited to, "I am too busy with account management... I have not had the time."

Your current success or lack of it reflects your identity so, what have you been telling yourself about yourself and to others?

If you are not achieving the results you want, then begin by being your own best friend. Visualise being the person already having the new identity including how you feel when in various sales situations. Your emotions are the key to developing and locking in your new identity. Find a quiet space at least twice a day and go through the process.

Your thoughts will more than likely give you reasons to drop the impending changes, "This feels uncomfortable so it cannot be right... While I have not been doing well, I am okay." Do not listen to thoughts and feelings that try to hinder your journey. This is a natural reaction from your subconscious mind. It does not like change. As you replace the old identity it is anxiety collapsing as the new identity becomes stronger.

The great news is, once your subconscious mind has accepted the change there is no going back. It will embrace the change and help you achieve your goals. However, in the short term it will require repetition, repetition, repetition, and patience.

So what identity are you going to create?

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