Membership Overview
Learn what being a member does for you
The Seller Styles
NASP Programs
Catalog
See a summary of all our programs and certifications
Online Certifications
Certified Professional Sales Person(CPSP®)
Develop your potential as a certified sales professional
Certified Professional Sales Leader(CPSL®)
Grow your impact as a certified sales leader
Certified Master Sales Professional (CMSP®)
Join the elite group of sales professionals and leaders
Certified Master Sales Trainer (CMST®)
Online Programs
Advanced Sales Influence (ASI)
Take your influence and leadership to the next level.
Certified Professional Sales Associate (CPSA®)
Learn foundational sales behaviors, strategies, and skills
Power of Contact Marketing
Learn from marketing expert and author Stu Heinecke
ProSeries Programs
Join the top 1% of sales professionals in the world.
Next Level Virtual Coaching
Sales Mastery
Join our ongoing dynamic virtual coaching community
Career Center
Explore job postings from some of the best companies in the country looking for sales professionals
Training Resources
Daily Dose of Influence!
Enjoy our video series of influence tips and strategies
Leads To Growth
Dig into our podcast featuring industry leaders and experts
Coaches Corner
Learn from our high-level sales coaching video series
Women of Sales & Influence – Facebook Live Series
Be inspired by our Facebook Live series spotlighting top women influencers
Women of Sales & Influence – Video Blog
Enjoy valuable, high-level sales strategies to empower your sales goals
Sales Resources
The Growth Quotient
You’ve heard about IQ, but what is your GQ?
Our Commitment to You
We are here to help your approach to sales, how you interact with others, and how you perform and execute
Articles
NASP Sales Blog
Learn from our member-submitted articles for sales professionals
About Our CEO
Standards of Conduct
Testimonials
Common Questions and Answers
Contact
by Leigh Ashton
Is Your Unconscious Mind Sabotaging Your Sales Success? Who is your inner critic?
Is Your Unconscious Mind Sabotaging Your Sales Success?: You know, that little voice in your head that says things like “you’ll never hit your target this month” or “I told you so” or “you never were any good at presentations”.
We all have an inner voice. Your inner voice is effectively your unconscious mind and its primary function is to look after you and keep you safe, though it doesn’t always feel that way does it? It’s great when your inner voice is saying positive and empowering things to you. However, on many occasions, when it’s actually trying to protect you, it can seem as if it’s sabotaging you.
Whose voice is it?
So whose voice is this that you hear in your head when things don’t go as planned? When you lose a sale? When you can’t get an appointment? In short (very short!) your inner voice develops as a result of all the stuff you’ve heard from others in your life. It can be your best friend. It can be your worst enemy. Is it your voice? Is it an imaginary critic? Is it someone from your past? Could it be someone who’s still in your life now?
Take control
Whoever is feeding your inner voice, the key is to control it. Whether your inner voice is saying positive or negative things it’s really important to recognise that there’s a positive intention in the message. What could it be for you? Maybe you haven’t had great success with a new sales strategy or technique and it causes you lots of angst every time you try it, so you stop trying it. Or there’s a particular client or prospect that takes lots of your energy to communicate with, so you don’t!
One positive intention is to stop you feeling the pain of the disappointment or trauma of communication with this person…so you don’t bother doing it again. You get to avoid the short term pain — but the long term impact is that you won’t get any better at your craft and your sales are less likely to increase. Sound familiar?
What’s the positive intention?
It’s really useful to think about the ‘positive intention’ when your inner critic stops you moving forward. Once you know what the positive intention is you can get this in other ways, allowing you to focus on the task in hand and keep the inner critic happy at the same time!! If you’re going to keep hearing this inner voice, you may as well make sure that it’s providing you with empowering phrases that help inspire you to your goals, your targets — and overall sales success
Action
Start recording the negative things your inner critic says and, once you have enough to go on, ask yourself the following questions…rather than letting it crush you, just be curious…
Whose voice is this?
What is the positive intention of those negative statements?
For example what might it be stopping you doing? How might it be protecting you? Think deep.
How can you preserve this positive intention but in a new strategy?
Take your time.
These questions will give you greater awareness of what’s going on within you and give you greater control. They allow you to make friends with your unconscious mind, change your reaction to those negative statements that come out of it, and ultimately ensure those messages are positive and empowering.
On my training sessions this issue of the inner critic comes up over and over again. One thing for sure…cracking this one makes you unstoppable!
Let me know how you get on.
Until next time.
Leigh
PS: Hope you’re not guilty of this mistake…
For previous ‘Tricks of the Trade’ go here
About the author
Hi I’m Leigh Ashton of The Sales Consultancy
Whether you’re a small business or a leading brand, an area manager or a Chief Executive, whether you’re new to sales or an experienced sales professional. Even if you’re not in sales at all but want to understand it, you’ve come to the right place.
The World of Sales is changing.
Today’s conventional sales training doesn’t address the psychological barriers that get in their way.
My approach takes your sales team through a process that:
* Helps them identify their psychological barriers and gives them the tools to overcome them * Teaches them how the mind works so they can keep motivated and stay focused * Gives them the ability to identify the psychological patterns of their clients and prospects so they connect with them at a deeper level and close more sales
And at a higher level…
* It creates more success in other areas of their lives so they are happier generally…and happier sales people generate more sales
Wherever you are on your personal sales journey what’s the best course of action for YOU.
– Sales Training – that actually gets results – Leadership and Management – Personal Coaching and Mentoring – Sales Mentoring Programme – NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and how it can help you accelerate your success – Keynote Speaking