Salespeople once needed big egos to succeed. They could convince strangers – their customers – to buy what they had to sell. For many salespeople, their gold-plated egos got them where they wanted to be in sales.

Today, a dominant, ain’t-I-great, overarching ego will kill you profe...

Everything about sales has radically changed, including the context of sales – the selling process, the buying process and the customers. Selling has become much tougher. What worked for salespeople in the past won’t work today or in the future. To stay current, salespeople must change. This will...

The secret of sales success is being completely present – always fully in the moment – with your customers. This mental state is called “intentional consciousness” or “dispositional mindfulness.” 

Being fully present implies exercising robust emotional intelligence. When you are fully prese...

Salespeople aren’t saints. They’re human beings, full of human imperfections. But when they remain fully present with customers, salespeople set themselves up to manage their temperament and behaviors. Sometimes this requires changing your behavior and habits by using dispositional mindfulness.

Salespeople who want productive client relationships must eliminate any negative behaviour they might direct toward a customer, such as impatience or rudeness. This doesn’t require a radical personality transformation. It calls for “shifting into neutral.” 

For your customers to view you as...

Target your behaviour to fit each customer as you jettison these 16 bad habits:

• Failure to be present.
• Unprofessional language or words that are confusing.
• Selling past the close.
• Selective hearing.
• Contact without purpose or simply for selling.
• ...

Don’t try to get rid of all your bad habits at once. Deal with your first group of bad habits, and then move on to the others. To determine the most glaring habits you want to address, become a detective about your personality. Note what comments people make about how you act and come across. Wr...

Engage with a peer coach who will speak with you by phone daily or a few times each week for a few minutes about your self-improvement campaign, without giving you any “negative feedback.” Have your coach record your answers to specific questions on a regular basis, such as, “Did you work on the ...

The rules of buying and selling have changed. In addition to being present, you must:

• “Ask” – Ask everyone you deal with for information, feedback, insights and opinions. 
• “Learn” – Salespeople who go out of their way to be proactive learners will gain a valuable competitive ad...

• Not having a personal touch will backfire as customers are loyal to salespeople and not the products.
• Master the basic sales functions first.
• Empathy matters.
• Replace any bad habits with good ones.
• Upgrade your skills constantly.
• Strengthen your talent...