---

Guest post by: jon leuty Become an Author

Tweet

---

---

Confucius observed, "He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger."

Learning and thinking are fundamentally linked. They need to be. Let me state something here, that is, people who choose to work in sales have been through a selection process to identify competencies and the individual has a realistic understanding of the sales role, responsibilities, and challenges.

When starting a sales career, sales training plays a critical role. Development usually focuses on three key areas, techniques, processes, and products. Layered over these are marketing components that address networking, prospecting and promotion. Together they form the technical components of sales training. Once mastered, they only improve with practice and repetition.

Arguably, the technical learning described in the preceding paragraph is not difficult. Product knowledge may be the exception as products can be complex. The topics have been studied and presented over many years. They have evolved and been adapted but there have been few changes to the fundamental concepts of selling. Perhaps the last major change was the shift to needs based selling and the impact of a more informed consumer due to greater access to information on the Internet.

So then has the art of selling been perfected?

Perhaps, but some say it's all for nothing if you haven't first tackled the way you think!

In fact my experience suggests that how you think should be an "up front" consideration.

Before getting on the road to technical development, there are real advantages to both the individuals and their organizations if both appreciate the impact effective thinking can have on learning. Imagine an individual who is negative, pessimistic, lacks self-esteem,and procrastinates. Compare that person to a positive, self-starting optimist who is full of confidence and believes in himself or herself.

How you think, or your mindset, sets the tone for what follows in your career. It sets the tone for how you learn, how you interact with peers as well as prospects and clients.

In the perfect world, we would only hire those with a positive and optimistic attitude. We would avoid recruiting those with a negative mindset who don't have a strong belief in themselves and who are not achievement oriented. In reality though, we encounter individuals all along the spectrum.

The good news is someone with a negative or neutral mindset can learn to be an effective thinker. In fact, even those with a positive mindset can find ways to improve.

If one consciously understands their personal thinking style, and is able to recognize such things as negative self-talk and counter-productive behaviours, they are well on the way to affecting their mindset. Similar to learning, practice and repetition will enable and adjust the thought process. In time, the conscious re-framing, positive self-talk, and awareness becomes the new mindset.

Imagine the impact a positive mindset can have during the training event then. The outcome can be massive. This permits an organization to better leverage its training investment - and ultimately the individual benefits from the increased likelihood of personal success.

I'll close with a last thought on mindset from Confucius, "The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence."

Related Articles

  Sales Training Materials that Work!
  Sales Training - short term or long term success?
  Is Your Sales Training Missing These Ingredients?
  Traditional Sales Training is a Waste of Time and Money!
  Sales Training Techniques that Work!
  How to Select Professional Sales Training
  Sales Training, without supporting Sales Management Training,
  Improve Your Sales Training By Changing Fuel
  Should You Train Unmotivated Sales Reps?
  Sales Training - Make sure you choose one that understands the stages of learning
  Benefits of Sales Training for Small Business
  3 Reasons Sales Training Doesn’t Work
  Is 87% of Your Sales Training Investment Wasted?
  The Ideal Sales Training Manual
  Sales Training Courses that Bring Lead Generations to Life
  To Train or Not To Train …. Why Spend Money on Sales Training?
  A Comprehensive Approach to Sales Skill Training
  A Toasted Bagel and Five Minutes to Understand the Impact of Sales Training
  TRADITIONAL SALES TRAINING LEADS TO DECLINE IN SALES
  Sales Training for Senior Manager Performance Improvement

Referred by: http://carboncopypro.com/

Related Forum Posts

7 words or less for Structogram
Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional
Re: Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional
Budget.
Re: Training and Self Development

Share this article. Fund someone's dream.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Keeping Your Distance: Marketing With a Twist

Top Ten Home-Based Businesses

Toxic Leaders

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.