Are you struggling with making sales or closing the business deals you desire? Does thinking about sales make you feel anxious or uncertain? Have you been in sales for a while, yet seem to be at a stuck point, hitting an income ceiling?

If you are, it’s likely because of one (or more) of these not-so-obvious reasons. 

Here are 3 things to consider when it comes to sales:

1.Often the biggest culprit to lost sales is more internal than it is ever external. For example, if you’re incongruent with selling or have an unresourceful mindset about sales, it’s going to be hard to sell effectively. If you pretend you aren’t a sales professional, feel slimy when you’re selling, or do everything you can to even avoid the word “sales”, I can tell you right now you’re projecting this out onto your potential clients. 

Communication is only 7% words, so what you aren’t saying has more of an effect than what you are saying, and the way you’re feeling about sales has a direct effect on the results you’re creating (or not). This is why as professionals, business owners, and service providers it’s crucial to your success to have a strong mindset and internal dialogue in sales, business, and life.

2. The second culprit could be your communication style. Often people communicate in only their communication style, which repels their current or prospective clients. So many sales professionals unintentionally fall into this trap which keeps them from serving a very large percentage of their target audience. To make a sale, you need to be able to meet your client where they are and speak their language, this creates the know, like, and trust factor. If you’re not speaking their language, they will tune you out, feel no connection and move on to someone who can speak their language. 

The key to being effective in your sales is adapting your communication style to match your prospective clients, so they feel comfortable, trust you, and want to do business with you. 

3. Lastly, unfortunately, so many people unintentionally focus on themselves (closing the deal or making the money) more than their client’s problems/needs. Sales is not about what YOU want, it’s about what YOUR CLIENT wants. If you’re focused on paying your bills, making another sale, or how great you’re going to feel when you close the business, you’re making it all about you. Your prospective client will see right through it, they will feel the disconnect and for some reason, it won’t make sense to them to move forward – saying something like “I’ll need to think about it”.

Whether you’re selling a product or service, as a service provider always have the client’s best interest in mind, speak into their problems, and approach the conversation as a win for them first, before it’s ever a win for you. When you do you’re prioritizing your client’s needs and they will feel the difference. Everyone wants to feel like the most important person in the world, you do this by listening to your client’s needs, understanding their problems, and being a problem solver. That’s it. 

Now, keep these three things in mind the next time you go into a sales situation and you’ll be sure to see an increase in your success rate!