What would you give up to never lose?

What risks would you be willing to take to make sure you come out on top, everytime? From selling conversational intelligence solution to insurance, it all becomes the same.

Early in my career, I had a sales leader whose brother was a Blackhawk pilot. As part of a sales coaching software session one week, he invited his brother to come talk to us about mindset. He focused on the mindset you needed to have to come away successful. He had been in some situations that did not go as planned, things had fallen apart and people were hurt. The cliff notes version of what he wanted us to walk away with was the idea that there will always be things that go wrong. There will always be things that are outside of your control. How you use the resources around you, and the training you have received dictates how those outside influences impact the outcome.

Sales leaders often preach about things like having confidence, bringing “swagger” to the table and having a winners mindset. However, they often neglect the topics that are a bit “uncomfortable” to some when it comes to selling conversational intelligence solution or really anything. Things that everyone at the table is thinking about, but often are forgotten from the agenda.

Break Conversational Intelligence down

Now breaking down the elements of a competitive battle between three software vendors, all fighting to earn the business. And let’s be honest, the commission check and new logo. First, we will begin by listing out everything that is beyond your control as a sales rep. These are variables you shouldn’t even try to control, because you can’t. Now the right talk tracks might help, but at the end of the day we have found just accepting, and breaking things down into two buckets.

The uncontrollable elements of a software sale

• Competitive product maturity
• Skill level of competing sales representatives
• Competitive brand recognition in your market or vertical
• Your company’s product or features
• Political motivations within your prospect’s organization (this one is debatable)
• Economical Influences (this last couple of years proved this to be true)

This list is not inclusive, there are many things outside of your control as a software sales rep. The ultimate goal is to leverage what you can to stack the cards in your favor. When you do that, you ensure that any competitive battle you find yourself in is never going to be a fair fight, you are always going to win.

You have professional athletes who find the best trainers, nutritionists, and support staff to keep their bodies performing. Singers bring on the best producers, the best voice coaches and fight for the best venues. To truly be called a professional, it means taking advantage of the resources available to make sure you stay on top of your game. Therefore, as a sales representative, what can you control?

The controllable elements of a software sale

1. The technology you deploy (for example, sales coaching software, conversational intelligence software, etc.)

2. Your attitude

3. Your emotions

4. The way you respond to situations

5. Level of preparedness for every opportunity

Imagine a tech stack that did not include a CRM, talk tracks framework, a sales engagement tool, or some type of database intelligence software. These tools are table stakes in today’s world, everyone has them.

Any sales rep looking to join a new company would expect to walk in on day one with these types of tools available. The key to winning is to deploy technology like real-time sales coaching software that begins to shift the tides in your favor. Deploy the next generation of conversational intelligence solutions before your competition.

The remaining items within the sphere of your control all come down to the mental fortitude and strength you have built. In talking with high performing sales representatives who don’t just rely on technology, one thing is usually found in common among these professionals. They are resilient in life, which transfers to their success in sales.

Be like a Blackhawk Pilot

Do you feel like you can go out there and sell anything – let’s say conversational intelligence software? No – well let’s review. Did your sales enablement team not provide the right competitive intelligence in last week’s training session? The cloud infrastructure your product is built on failed and you couldn’t access your demo system.

Did your main champion just get fired, and their boss already has a vendor selected in her mind? These things happen. The key is to look into your toolkit of a hardened mindset, the solutions at your fingertips, and find ways to deploy those skills and technologies to turn the tides in your favor.

Be ready to use what you have to make sure that regardless of what happens to you. You are always in a position to win by never letting it be a fair fight!