Author : George Swift
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Sales First, is a mantra, a mindset, an attitude, and a strategy and tactic, all at the same time. Putting sales at the forefront of your thinking, planning, and day-to-day activity, is a surefire way to make sure this essential function is given the attention it requires. Successful salespeople, live, breathe and die sales. They are like hawks at spotting opportunities, they never take their eye off sales. Successful, small, service-based business owners are the same. They have more plates to spin than the dedicated sales individual so they must intentionally and deliberately make sales a core priority. If they’re serious about growing their business, it needs to be their priority.
Sales First, is a mantra, a mindset, an attitude, and a strategy and tactic, all at the same time. Putting sales at the forefront of your thinking, planning, and day-to-day activity, is a surefire way to make sure this essential function is given the attention it requires. Successful salespeople, live, breathe and die sales. They are like hawks at spotting opportunities, they never take their eye off sales. Successful, small, service-based business owners are the same. They have more plates to spin than the dedicated sales individual so they must intentionally and deliberately make sales a core priority. If they’re serious about growing their business, it needs to be their priority.
Think “Sales First”. Every morning ask yourself, “Where are my opportunities today?” Every time you go networking or visit a conference ask, “Where is the sales opportunity here?” As you are about to open your diary, look at your email or respond to a message from a client, remind yourself, “Sales First!” When setting your goals for your businesses or planning out the future, remember “Sales First”. Make the “Sales First” mindset for your business the first thing you think about in the morning and the last thing you think about at the end of the day, and give it plenty of brain space in between, whilst ensuring that customer success is a key focus for your small business as well as it plays a crucial role in achieving your sales goals and sales success.
Take care of your product and service sales first in your small business. Not to the exclusion of everything else, just make it your number one priority. You’ll always make time for your clients and deliver great service. As a small business owner, it’s your sales activity that probably keeps falling out of focus, so do it first.
Obviously, if you hit your desk at 6:30 in the morning, you don’t want to be calling clients, they won’t be your friends and they definitely won’t be buying from you. But the first thing you do each day is look for your sales opportunities and plan when the sales process is going to happen. Block it out, protect it, and make sure you stick to it – every, single, day. Put the sales mindset first. If you do, you’ll see improvement. This approach is essential for achieving small business success as an owner.
Think “Sales First”. Every morning ask yourself, “Where are my opportunities today?” Every time you go networking or visit a conference ask, “Where is the sales opportunity here?” As you are about to open your diary, look at your email or respond to a message from a client, remind yourself, “Sales First!” When setting your goals for your businesses or planning out the future, remember “Sales First”. Make the “Sales First” mindset for your business the first thing you think about in the morning and the last thing you think about at the end of the day, and give it plenty of brain space in between, whilst ensuring that customer success is a key focus for your small business as well as it plays a crucial role in achieving your sales goals and sales success.
Take care of your product and service sales first in your small business. Not to the exclusion of everything else, just make it your number one priority. You’ll always make time for your clients and deliver great service. As a small business owner, it’s your sales activity that probably keeps falling out of focus, so do it first.
Obviously, if you hit your desk at 6:30 in the morning, you don’t want to be calling clients, they won’t be your friends and they definitely won’t be buying from you. But the first thing you do each day is look for your sales opportunities and plan when the sales process is going to happen. Block it out, protect it, and make sure you stick to it – every, single, day. Put the sales mindset first. If you do, you’ll see improvement. This approach is essential for achieving small business success as an owner.
If you have a corkboard, whiteboard, or a wall you use to make a note of things, write a message and get it up there right now – “SALES FIRST!” If you use a paper diary, write it at the top of each day, “SALES FIRST!”. If you use an electronic diary, add a reminder for the first thing each day, “SALES FIRST!”. If you’re in the habit of using your phone for reminders, set an alarm for first thing in the morning, “SALES FIRST!” And whilst you’re at it, why not set one for the afternoon as well? Even if it’s as simple as putting a Post-it note on the bathroom mirror or the side of your computer screen, ensure you are prompting yourself at the beginning of each day, and throughout the day.
Not only does the Sales First philosophy bring sales to the forefront of your mind and prioritise its execution, but it also primes you for sales. Priming is when the subconscious responds unconsciously to something it was exposed to earlier. Experiments have indicated that behaviour can be heavily manipulated through the use of priming. You may already be priming yourself with sales. Maybe the reason you’re avoiding it, forgetting to do it, or not enjoying sales activity is that you are already priming yourself negatively to sales. To succeed in sales, it’s crucial to focus on overcoming negative sales priming.
When you think of doing effective sales, do you get excited, optimistic, energised and motivated? Or do you lose energy, and become unmotivated and full of dread? You could be priming yourself unconsciously with negative associations to sales such as it being obnoxious, greedy, or painful, or you not being any good at it. By making sales your priority and looking for sales opportunities each day whilst incorporating a strong marketing strategy to improve sales, you are setting the scene for your subconscious to positively align your thoughts and behaviours with your designed sales attitude and approach.
If the subconscious perceives little or no reward for any given activity, it will pull energy and focus away from those actions. Conversely, if there is plenty of reward, you will unconsciously focus more energy on those activities. To win at sales you will have to lose at sales. These two go hand in hand. If we only focus on the losses, we can’t blame our subconscious for perceiving sales as fruitless, pointless, uncomfortable, and a waste of resources. It will pull the plug on our motivation to do sales. However, if it gets a clear message that sales is a positive thing to do and full of rewards, it will dial up our motivation to do sales activity.
You must acknowledge all the little wins that are stepping stones to the bigger successes you want to see in your business. Feeling good about doing sales activity is a reward in itself. Patting yourself on the back for being a little braver, more confident, or assertive in sales is a reward. Having positive sales conversations is a reward, regardless of whether they turn into actual sales. Hitting your sales activity target for the day and celebrating, is perceived as a reward. We tend to focus only on the financial rewards or the new clients we win, but these are often far more sparse than the small daily rewards. These are the bigger successes that lie at the end of all those smaller wins. If we acknowledge all the positives in our sales activity, including excellent customer service and a superior customer experience, we will stay motivated long enough to achieve our larger, desired sales outcomes. Over time, you will prime yourself to be a sales legend.
If you have a corkboard, whiteboard, or a wall you use to make a note of things, write a message and get it up there right now – “SALES FIRST!” If you use a paper diary, write it at the top of each day, “SALES FIRST!”. If you use an electronic diary, add a reminder for the first thing each day, “SALES FIRST!”. If you’re in the habit of using your phone for reminders, set an alarm for first thing in the morning, “SALES FIRST!” And whilst you’re at it, why not set one for the afternoon as well? Even if it’s as simple as putting a Post-it note on the bathroom mirror or the side of your computer screen, ensure you are prompting yourself at the beginning of each day, and throughout the day.
Not only does the Sales First philosophy bring sales to the forefront of your mind and prioritise its execution, but it also primes you for sales. Priming is when the subconscious responds unconsciously to something it was exposed to earlier. Experiments have indicated that behaviour can be heavily manipulated through the use of priming. You may already be priming yourself with sales. Maybe the reason you’re avoiding it, forgetting to do it, or not enjoying sales activity is that you are already priming yourself negatively to sales. To succeed in sales, it’s crucial to focus on overcoming negative sales priming.
When you think of doing effective sales, do you get excited, optimistic, energised and motivated? Or do you lose energy, and become unmotivated and full of dread? You could be priming yourself unconsciously with negative associations to sales such as it being obnoxious, greedy, or painful, or you not being any good at it. By making sales your priority and looking for sales opportunities each day whilst incorporating a strong marketing strategy to improve sales, you are setting the scene for your subconscious to positively align your thoughts and behaviours with your designed sales attitude and approach.
If the subconscious perceives little or no reward for any given activity, it will pull energy and focus away from those actions. Conversely, if there is plenty of reward, you will unconsciously focus more energy on those activities. To win at sales you will have to lose at sales. These two go hand in hand. If we only focus on the losses, we can’t blame our subconscious for perceiving sales as fruitless, pointless, uncomfortable, and a waste of resources. It will pull the plug on our motivation to do sales. However, if it gets a clear message that sales is a positive thing to do and full of rewards, it will dial up our motivation to do sales activity.
You must acknowledge all the little wins that are stepping stones to the bigger successes you want to see in your business. Feeling good about doing sales activity is a reward in itself. Patting yourself on the back for being a little braver, more confident, or assertive in sales is a reward. Having positive sales conversations is a reward, regardless of whether they turn into actual sales. Hitting your sales activity target for the day and celebrating, is perceived as a reward. We tend to focus only on the financial rewards or the new clients we win, but these are often far more sparse than the small daily rewards. These are the bigger successes that lie at the end of all those smaller wins. If we acknowledge all the positives in our sales activity, including excellent customer service and a superior customer experience, we will stay motivated long enough to achieve our larger, desired sales outcomes. Over time, you will prime yourself to be a sales legend.
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