The Mental Game of Selling

Superstar athletes will tell you that playing a sport at the professional level is as much a mental game as it is a physical game. The same holds true for the “sport” of professional selling—the sport you as a mortgage loan originator play every day.
The physical aspects of selling include the ability to plan, organize and identify opportunities. Good salespeople need to hustle to make contacts, meet people and build relationships. They must be skilled in their ability to ask questions and provide on-target solutions as well as demonstrating a keen knowledge of their products, procedures, systems and guidelines.
Equally important to the physical side of working in sales is the mental game of selling. People who play the game at the professional level understand how to create and sustain a competitive advantage over others by mastering a winning mental mindset. Here are five ways they do just that:
1. Their outlook. When you look for problems, issues and barriers, all you will see are problems, issues and barriers. When you look for upsides and opportunities, that’s exactly what you’ll see. Successful salespeople hold a positive outlook about their future, their industry and their chances for success. Yes, they have setbacks and yes, they have challenges to be faced every day. But they don’t dwell on them or use them as excuses. They focus on the possibilities and upside potential others miss, and it’s because they have programmed their brain to think that way.
2. Their expectations. Some salespeople set their sights and goals too low. They can’t see themselves closing big numbers, being recognized as a top producer, or driving a brand-new Mercedes. This vision of mediocrity holds them back from producing the results they are capable of. Simply put: They don’t expect too much, so they don’t get too much. By contrast, highly successful salespeople are “better than average” because they set their sights on being better than average. They’re simply not interested in getting by or slogging through their career year after year. They expect they are capable of more than everyone else, and that is the main reason why they end up with more than everyone else.
3. Their confidence. Perhaps the most important ingredient about the mental game of selling is confidence. In order for your customers to believe that you are a talented, knowledgeable, skilled sales professional, you must believe it first. Successful salespeople truly feel they are better than the rest. It’s not about being cocky or acting like a prima-donna. It’s an authentic level of confidence they have in themselves and their abilities. As one superstar mortgage loan originator once told me: “If a borrower doesn’t choose me and goes elsewhere for his financing, I genuinely feel sorry for him. I know without a doubt he is not going to get the level of service, help and advice I would have given him, and that’s upsetting to me.” Now that’s confidence! (Is that how you feel as well?)
4. Their think skin. Selling is a game of constant rejection. Lots of people will say no to you, even more will never call you back. Many salespeople can’t deal with this. They want to always win, and as a result, will rarely try anything that will put them in the slightest position to lose. Successful salespeople who have honed a mental toughness over time don’t like rejection either; it hurts. But they have conditioned themselves to deal with it, accept it as a part of the game they play, and move forward. They try, they fail and they try again. They know that every no they hear puts them one step closer to the next yes.
5. Their environment. We are all products of our environments. If you hang around with poor or average salespeople you will eventually become just like them. Success breeds success. Positive, optimistic people will infuse you with their successful attitudes, just like negative people will contaminate you with their fears, reservations and complaints. Successful salespeople have the right mental mindset because they have exposed themselves to the right stimuli—great books, CDs, seminars, workshops, mentors, coaches, peers and clients that have positively influenced them to think, act and behave the way they do. As motivational giant Zig Ziglar once said, “Surround yourself with success, and you will fast become just like them.”
The key to your success this year might not be low rates or a new loan product or even changing companies. In the end, it may all come down to the way you think.