Taking an attitude of abundance means that every time you meet a new sales prospect, your brain believes that there are enough prospects out there and is evaluating if
THIS PARTICULAR PROSPECT IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU.
That may sound elitist, bear with me… not all prospects are created equal!
Merriam-Webster defines abundance as ‘an ample quantity’ or ‘relative degree of plentifulness’. What a great way to approach sales! Start with the crazy idea that there are enough prospects out there for all of us to find our ideal customers, work together, and make money.
Out there are prospects who:
- buy what you sell
- need what you do
- have money to spend
These are the prospects you want to turn into customers! They value what you bring to their life – job – business and are willing to pay you for your expertise. I’d challenge you to think of this both in terms of the results people get from your product/service AND what they receive from you as an individual.
On the other hand – there are also prospects who use the products/services you sell, yet don’t need what you do. When chasing prospects who don’t need what makes you unique, a few things could happen.
1st you waste time chasing and never earn their business. Even worse…. they become your customer! Then you spend a lot of energy trying to be the vendor they were looking for, doing things that are outside your normal scope of activity, all to live up to an expectation you’re not interested in meeting anyway.
Unfortunately, every day I meet salespeople who think in terms of scarcity instead of abundance. They hold on tight to anyone who is willing to do business with them. Their fear of not having enough, impeding their ability to let go of the unprofitable! Yet letting go is the only way to make room for earning their ideal customers.
I’m not sure who introduced me to the idea of Abundance vs. Scarcity because if I could remember I would give them credit here. This was probably one of the most important concepts that I learned – it helped me truly embrace walking away from bad customers, the ones who cost me more in time/energy/effort than the revenue I get in exchange BUT want to give me their money.
Embrace Abundance and believe there are people out there who not only buy what you sell, they also need what you do – that is uniquely yours. Now take a look at your list of customers, who are your bad customers? Find a way to disengage and gracefully break up with them… if you need help, listen to Paul Simon “…the answer is easy if you take it logically…” (50 Ways to Leave Your Lover).
Why work on your abundance mindset?
I do believe if you don’t see abundance and believe there is enough for everyone it is TOUGH to be successful in sales… in life.
Take a moment to reflect on how you view the world and determine if you want to change it.
In abundance,
Lynn