Business Mindsets that Drive No Sales
Developing good sales tactics consist of knowing the importance of communication, and understanding consumer psychology. Most of the sales process and driving force are practical actions, but your mental capacity plays a great deal as well. Your passion, energy, motivation, happiness, and thirst for success are all why your business sells. After all, if you don’t believe in your own brand and products, who else will?
This article is intended mainly for early entrepreneurs, small business owners, startups, freelancers, and influencers who are new to sales and are seeking ways to monetize their business or sell a product. The first crucial point is to develop the right mindset. There are many entrepreneurs out there that think they may know sales but it’s all in the numbers. If you have little to no sales growth, then you don’t know.
Here we will discuss these traits and why it should stop right now.
Mindset #1
“I choose how to market my products”.
After the launch of a product, some businesses would go straight to marketing without setting a plan or prior research. It’s that mindset of “in order to conquer the market is by controlling it”. Well, how about trying to reverse that way of thinking? Rather than predicting what customers are doing and trying to control how to market to them, instead observe market conditions and follow their trends. Businesses are more likely to succeed if they let go of trying to control.
Mindset #2
“Everyone is my customer”.
Sure, that would be nice. Don’t we all love to have everyone as our customers? Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. One key to any effective sales strategy is that you should — know who your customers are. They are your targeted audience and they are the group you should be following and observing as mentioned above. Otherwise, your marketing approach would be all over in every direction with no solid structure.
Mindset #3
“My product is the best”.
My most unfavorable entrepreneurial mindset of all. It’s the “I am better than all my competitors, no need for any change” mindset. To have this kind of outlook not only means there are potential issues with the business aspects, but it sure looks like someone could take some life tips in personal development to be more open-minded. It’s okay to be confident in a healthy sense, but to be overly confident (moreover entrepreneurially arrogant) affects practically everyone around you professionally and personally.
While the product may be good, consider the fast-paced changing environment and what other companies must do in order to stay competitive. Look at the social media trends and new marketing innovations for instance — new users growing every second and scrolling through Instagram’s shopping platform. It is quite challenging to stay ahead of the demanding curve. Falling short from adapting to change could give your competitors an advantage, but not if you consistently strive to innovate and improve.
Mindset #4
“Saving money is more important”.
Okay, well savings is important, but what’s more important than saving money? Making money. So where is the return if you don’t put in the investment? I’ve seen many businesses that had the budget but decided to hold back on the sales development expenses due to risks and costs concern. As a result? Not much. The reality is there will always be risks in doing business. “With great risk comes great reward” — Thomas Jefferson
For example, don’t expect much from recruiting a couple of sales person on a commission-only base to solve the problem. This is not the go-to solution. Don’t get me wrong, outbound sales activities are great, just because it is cost-effective does not mean it should be your only method to drive revenue for the business. The problem will still be there if not dealt with properly. Then we’re back to square one. If you want to drive in real sales growth, you need to put in your time, energy, and money to invest in proper sales development — it’s worth it.
Mindset #5
“All I need is a good sales team”.
Having a stellar sales team is spectacular. It is a critical asset for any business, but that is not all you need. What good use is sales if you don’t have good content or poor branding? While this mindset is partially correct, as an entrepreneur you could face major setbacks and lose track of other key areas of the business eg. website development, logistics setup, product development, etc. The point is to remain focused and don’t lose sight of other priorities.
