Listening to your self-talk is way more important to listening to yourself talk. Everyone knows that listening is an important skill in sales. But have you ever listened to what you say to yourself? You say things like “I can’t ask that question because it might upset the prospect”. Or you might hear yourself say “our prices are high. I better sharpen my pencil”; or, “this is a big deal. I better not ask any tough questions. I don’t want to rock the boat”. Sometimes these are only faint ideas in the back of your head so you have to listen very carefully. More importantly, it pays to ask yourself questions at the end of each call. This is called debriefing yourself. Ask ‘why did I say that” or “why didn’t I say that”. There are many other questions (just think of what your sales manager might ask and you will come up with plenty). Asking those questions will force you to come up with a reason. The reason you give yourself is almost always a self-limiting belief. The first step to overcoming a self-limiting belief is understanding what they are. So listen carefully to your self-talk. It helps you grow as a salesperson and it is more productive than listening to yourself talk.
