Here's some advice I'd give my younger self when I started out in sales over 20 years ago

1) Your role does not define you - you define it

2) If you're playing it safe so that you don't look daft, you'll never grow

2) Stretch yourself daily, fail fast & learn from each mistake

4) No-one is better than you, regardless of age or position

5) Take your role seriously, but not yourself, as you'll come across as stiff & unrelatable

6) Find a way to enjoy your role, otherwise it'll soon become an uphill struggle

7) Treat sales interactions like an actor approaches a performance or an improv scene - this will help you become more responsive & a better communicator 

8) Find a decent mentor

9) Study human psychology 

10) Improve your business acumen 

11) Be proud of working in sales - you're the engine of business 

12) Let your attachment to money go, in the knowledge you'll make more by doing your job to the best of your ability

13) Drop your ego & manage your emotions

14) Transpose yourself into your buyer's world 

15) Become a skilled questioner

16) Always act like the equal of your prospect & stop pandering

17) Beware of answering questions at face value 

18) Learn to communicate with tact & finesse 

19) Become adept at communicating with different personality types

20) Read the room and adjust accordingly 

#sales #mindset #selling