Do you put more trust in “the experts” than yourself?
Are you always searching for the next best framework?
These are signs that you’re struggling with mediocrity. Not because you are mediocre, but because you haven’t yet tapped into your unique style and personality as a salesperson.
When you’re out of alignment, your results will be so-so.
Jeff Bajorek, the creator of the #SellLikeYou movement, says that helping sellers believe in themselves is worth more than skill training. He laid down some piping-hot motivation on our recent episode of the Closing Show Live. And in this case, a video is worth a million words.
Catch the full episode here for his walkthrough of how to get yourself aligned with who you truly are. Or, keep reading for his step-by-step process to hone your unique selling style and transform your potential.
“You’re the secret ingredient to your own success.” - Jeff Bajorek, Sales Trainer
Step 1. Be honest—are you mediocre?
Step one is to take a good hard look at yourself. Are you stuck in mediocrity? If your professional life is feeling lackluster, that’s a good sign that you are out of alignment with yourself, which is dragging down your productivity, instincts, and results.
“Being mediocre looks like knowing you’re able to deliver more but struggling to figure out how. It looks like waiting until Friday, worrying about Monday, drinking too much, always looking for a dopamine hit, and not tuning into your creative self. It feels like hell.”
Step 2. Commit to changing
The next step is to decide that you want to take action. Of course, many people choose to keep doing things the same old way. They don’t change, tackle new challenges, or unleash their creativity and problem-solving potential.
“You can accept mediocrity, you can quit, or you can take control and start trusting yourself. At some point, you just need to get sick and tired of being mediocre. You need to believe that the pain of inaction is greater than the pain of action—which is something we lead our prospects through all the time. ” - Jeff Bajorek, Sales Trainer
Step 3. Know the difference between process and methodology
VPs and other sales leaders sometimes get nervous when hiring Jeff for sales training. They’re afraid he’s going to encourage everyone to do their own thing—leading to a random, disorganized workflow. But that isn’t the case. He recommends that people follow the sales process (know your customer, consult them, etc.) but with their unique spin.
“We have the art and science of selling. The process is rigid. You have to follow it. But the methodologies are where you can bring yourself to the equation. You can’t skip steps in the sales process, but the way you go about checking those boxes is uniquely your own.” - Jeff Bajorek, Sales Trainer
Sometimes, this does mean that sellers are going about things in a different way. For instance, one BDR might go all in on email, another on social, and another on phone calls. By using the outreach method that aligns with their personality and energy, they’ll book more meetings than if they split their time evenly between those methods.
Step 4. Break up with your frameworks
Jeff has noticed a vicious cycle in the sales world: sellers will use someone else’s framework, get sub-par results from it, doubt themselves, search for another framework, and so on.
The truth is that while you do need a solid understanding of the sales cycle, you don’t need to apply all of these fancy frameworks with complicated steps, mantras, and names.
The best thing you can do is to forget about all of those acronyms and start listening to your gut.
“There were a lot of instincts I had been suppressing. When I started trusting myself, I tripled my revenue in 18 months with a nice-to-have product during one of the worst economies we’ve seen. I decided to finally pay attention to the voice in my head and the feeling in my belly.” - Jeff Bajorek, Sales Trainer
Step 5. Get aligned with who you are
The key to unlocking your how is unlocking your why. Jeff recommends that you ask yourself the following questions.
“Why did you choose to work with this company? Why do you believe in the solutions that you sell? Why do you believe in yourself? Why do you believe that your clients are better off after doing business with you?” - Jeff Bajorek, Sales Trainer
You can journal the responses. By doing so, you’ll become more in tune with who you are, and you’ll probably come up with some great sales messaging to use in emails and phone calls.
When you’re truly aligned with your values and when you truly believe in yourself, you’ll notice a huge difference in both your professional and personal life.
To dive deeper into this transformative process, Jeff recommends the book The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield. It shows how to break through the inner resistance that prevents us from reaching our next level of growth.
And make sure to catch the next episode of The Closing Show Live for more stellar sales advice.
