Sales Psychology from Harvey Mackay

Sales Psychology from Harvey Mackay from his new book

The Mackay MBA of Selling in the Real World

A great salesperson is a hungry fighter – someone who is committed to action and results: An average salesperson tells. A good salesperson explains . . . and a great salesperson demonstrates.

Integrity is the backbone of sales. Honesty is the best policy even when it has a high premium. Today’s Internet world is too transparent to be anything other than absolutely honest.

You have to like selling to succeed at it. Success, after all, is doing what we like and making a living at it. Work isn’t work if you like it. And, success is a journey not a destination.

Selling is a skill, and practice is needed to perfect it. Practice right so you can’t get it wrong. Practice makes perfect . . . not true. You have to add one word: Perfect practice makes perfect. The difference between failure and success is doing a thing nearly right and doing it exactly right.

That means you need coaches and mentors to help you prepare. UCLA basketball coach John Wooden said it best: Failure to prepare is preparing to fail. (The number of specialized coaches I have had in my life.)

Create simple, clear, measurable plans. People have to saddle their dreams before they can ride them.

Each of my books offers hard-hitting checklist tools. This one is no exception. I call it The Mackay 25 Sales Call Prep Checklist. It zeroes in on buyer habits and behaviors. They include favored technology for communicating and trusted information sources.

Sales is about conviction and believing in yourself. 

You have to believe in yourself, even when no one else does. Bet on yourself when no one else does! That means taking initiative. Don’t sit around and wait for things to happen. 

Your attitude determines your altitude. In sales, you have good days and bad days. The trick is to convince yourself every morning that it’s going to be a good day!

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg once told me: “How bad a day can it be when you are looking at the right side of the grass?”

Some days, it’s a trial to drag yourself out of bed. I tell a story I call “The Principal of It All”. That’s principal spelled p-r-i-n-c-i-p-a-l.

Enthusiasm is infectious. Start an epidemic. Sir Winston Churchill had it right when he said: “I am an optimist. It doesn’t seem too much use being anything else.” Optimists are right. So are pessimists. It’s up to you to choose which you will be.

Personal appearance and impressions are as important as ever. Sure, some “creative” companies in high tech and film tolerate looking like an unmade bed, but not in the sales departments of the very best ones.

Today’s awful job market has raised appearance standards, too.
• Countless studies show: Suits sell.
• People rather buy from, work for and learn from people who are well groomed.

By the way, when you’re applying for a sales job, the most important outfitting to do is your mind.
• Talk your job prospect’s talk.
• Learn their company successes and celebrate them.
• Learn where they’re ailing and offer them a lifeline for improvement.
• Demonstrate what a great team player you have been.
• Close with gusto and follow-up with a thank you note.
Sales is no longer a man’s business. What’s happening in sales is like what’s happening in every other profession. Look at the numbers. Women represent:
• 62% of all auditors and accountants in college.
• 44% of law school students.
• 41% of recent MBAs.
At the prestige schools the numbers are even higher.
• At Yale in 2010, women were 49% of the MD program in the medical school and 49% of the Law School student body.
• Best number of all: The number of women entrepreneurs is increasing 2-3 times as fast as men.
• Female entrepreneurs employ more people than all the Fortune 500 companies combined.
• Within the last 5 years, women business owners outnumber their male counterparts.
• I call that “Woman bites dog!”

Always give yourself room to grow.

Thanks Harvey.

Why not check out Harvey Mackay’s new book

The Mackay MBA of Selling in the Real World