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Success and failure in sales are determined by many things, but most important on that long list is what I’d call your “sales mindset.” It’s how you think about yourself, your role as a sales professional, and the big reasons you’re in a sales career in the first place. To help us think through the obstacles to a healthy sales mindset that every salesperson faces, I’ve invited Bernadette McClelland to be my guest on this episode of #SellingWithSocial.
Bernadette is the Founder of 3 Red Folders, a sales training and consulting firm that helps clients understand the essentials of sales strategy, sales psychology, and sales science. This intersection of topics is not something you’ll hear talked about commonly but it’s extremely important to understand.
On this episode, Bernadette and I discuss how sales professionals can begin to unravel the mystery behind lagging sales performance by going inside themselves, where they’ll discover what makes them tick and find the tools to change their sales career for the better. Don’t miss it!
If your #sales mindset needs an overhaul here’s how to start the process. Join Vengreso #CEO @M_3Jr and his guest @B_McClelland of 3 Red Folders, on this episode of #SellingWithSocial. #SocialSelling @Gong_io #Gong #RevenueSuccessClick To TweetThis episode is brought to you by Gong.io, the number one conversation intelligence platform for sales. Gong helps you achieve revenue success, which means you win more deals, skyrocket rep performance and gain critical market intelligence. Get powerful visibility into your customer conversations with Gong. Head to http://bit.ly/gongio to get started.
To Increase Your Sales Success You Must Be Open And Be Aware
When asked how salespeople can begin to give their sales mindset an overhaul, Bernadette says that it starts with two things: Openness and Awareness. Let’s take those one at a time.
First, you must be open to change and growth. She points out that many sales professionals are full of ego, ready to take on any challenge. That’s fine, except that they often think they don’t need to do anything more to increase their skills or abilities. She says those individuals cannot be helped because they’ve closed themselves off to growth. But those who are open to change and eager for growth can accomplish much more.
Next, you have to become aware that you carry the beliefs, conditioning, and limitations that your family and environment created in you as a child. Those are the things that stop you from achieving all you could and that prevent you from stepping into bigger deals. These are the things that limit your belief in yourself. Listen to hear how Bernadette unpacks this vital topic.
Understanding Your WHY Is Important But Not Without Knowing Your WHO
Most business people have read the book, “Start With Why” by Simon Senek. He brought a concept into the spotlight that I’ve been asking my sales team to consider for years. It’s the idea that WHY you do what you do is more important than HOW you do it – and that if your WHY is compelling enough, it will drive you to greater levels of success and accomplishment.
But Bernadette says that as right as Simon is, he’s missing a key component – another element that even informs that WHY. It’s WHO you are. She tells the story of how she used to be a smoker and that no amount of warnings on cigarette packages was enough motivation to make her stop smoking. But when she decided that SHE was not a smoker, that it wasn’t going to be a part of how she thought of HERSELF, everything changed. Listen to hear how she applies this story to the development of a positive sales mindset.
Understanding your WHY is important in #sales but not without knowing your WHO. Learn more about it on this episode of #SellingWithSocial with Vengreso #CEO @M_3Jr and guest @B_McClelland of 3 Red Folders. #SalesTip @Gong_io #Gong #RevenueSuccessClick To TweetThe Key Questions All Sales Leaders Need To Be Asking
Whether you lead a sales team or are an individual seller, Bernadette provides two simple questions and a follow-up exercise that will help you overcome blockages to achieve greater success in modern sales and a growth mindset. She poses the questions as if a leader of a sales team were asking them, so if you’re an individual salesperson, just modify the sentences to apply to you personally. Here they are…
1 – What are the behaviors you need to see that will give you confidence that your sales team will overachieve?
2 – What is the negative impact on your business if that doesn’t happen?
Bernadette’s follow-up exercise is for those who can’t clearly answer the question. She instructs you to pretend that you knew the answer. What would it look like? What would it feel like? You’ll soon discover you have the solutions to your own problems. Listen to learn more.
Sales Mindset Mistake: Not Knowing The Purpose And Outcome Sales Calls
Much of what goes into a successful sales mindset has to do with preparing yourself for the sales calls you have scheduled. And that preparation is about more than just knowing your product specs and discussing the client’s need within the scope of their buyer’s journey. To become a successful salesperson, you need to be clear on what both the purpose and the outcome of that sales call need to be.
Bernadette points out that purpose and outcome are not the same. “Purpose” speaks to the buyer’s needs and agenda, which could be nothing more than a fact-finding mission for them. But “outcome” is about your goals, what you need to get from the appointment – and it’s not always getting the sale. This is a great opportunity for sales leaders to teach reps how to accelerate their pipeline.
Listen to hear how Bernadette breaks it down and you’ll understand why she’s an in-demand sales speaker across the world! Join us for this episode of Selling With Social.
#Sales mindset mistake: not knowing the purpose and outcome sales calls. Listen in as Vengreso #CEO, @M_3Jr, and @B_McClelland of 3 Red Folders talk about it on this episode of #SellingWithSocial. #SalesLeadership @Gong_io #Gong #RevenueSuccessClick To TweetThis episode is brought to you by Gong.io, the number one conversation intelligence platform for sales. Gong helps you achieve revenue success, which means you win more deals, skyrocket rep performance and gain critical market intelligence. Get powerful visibility into your customer conversations with Gong. Head to http://bit.ly/gongio to get started.
Outline of This Episode
- [1:49] Introducing Bernadette McClelland, sales influencer from the land down under
- [9:16] What does psychology have to do with sales?
- [14:51] When a business (or individual) is not making its numbers, what’s wrong?
- [19:55] Understanding your WHY is important, but not without knowing your WHO
- [22:11] One of the key questions Bernadette asks sales leaders
- [26:06] Common errors salespeople make that prevent them from succeeding
- [31:27] Talking about the elephant in the room and helping buyers help you
- [37:01] Sabotaging behaviors that often happen among sales teams
Resources Mentioned
- 3 Red Folders – Bernadette’s company
- Bernadette’s book: The Art of Commercial Conversations (Bernadette’s affiliate link)
- Bernadette on LinkedIn
- Bernadette on Twitter: @B_McClelland
- Bernadette’s favorite movie: The Way
- Jonathan Livingston Seagull (Bernadette’s hero)
- Spin Selling Method
- Challenger Selling Method
- Gartner
- CSO Insights
- Forrester
- Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
- Tony Robbins 6 Core Needs
- Modern Marketing Engine Podcast – Bernie Borges
Connect with Mario!
- www.vengreso.com
- On Facebook
- On Twitter
- On YouTube
- On LinkedIn
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10 thoughts on “15 LinkedIn Profile Optimization Tips to Get Found This 2023”
My LinkedIn account was ranking on the first page for best mommys blog keyword quite a few years back and I didn’t have any idea. While working, I stumbled upon the Analytic section of LinkedIn and saw that most of the visitors are coming from search engine later on I realized that in my profile I’ve used “Mommy’s blog” word a lot of time and that is the reason why it was ranking well on SERP. This is how I came to know about SEO and I was also amazed by the fact that how easy it was to rank for competitive keywords back then. Anyways loved your article and please share more tips on SEO.
Thanks for sharing. The number of times you mention a word or phrase is still a factor for sure.
We love hearing tips as well as questions our reader, so keep them coming!
Should I change keywords overtime based on what’s popular on the internet?
There is a lot of value in this article, especially for those looking to improve their visibility on LinkedIn. My favorite of the fifteen tips shared in this article is number nine. I’ve observed that people with custom profile links, seem to get more attention than those who haven’t customized their LinkedIn profile URL. Interesting article, thank you for taking the time to put it together.
Customizing LinkedIn URLs create more visibility for sure! Thank you, Bret.
I agree with the recommendations, they are a very important part of our strategy on LinkedIn, it can give confidence to potential customers (or leaders when someone is looking for a job).
People shouldn’t underestimate keywords on their LinkedIn profile! This helped potential buyers to find me on LinkedIn more easily when they searched for certain products and/or services. Thanks Viveka!
Thank you for another great blog post. For the alt text and/or naming images, do you mean two to three different keyword phrases as a maximum, like this?
B2B cybersecurity content marketing writer , technical writing cybersecurity content , cybersecurity technical writer , David Geer
Or can you add more keyword phrases than this?
Hey David – I honestly don’t know the efficacy of adding more keywords than that. I would stick with what you have above.
All the information is very helpful which can help us to increase our Profile ranking on LinkedIn. Another big interesting article, this blog is very useful for the Optimization of my LinkedIn profile.
I also get much knowledge from this blog.
thank you keep sharing.