Too much sales advice is slowing you down

Filling Your Brain With Too Much Sales Advice is Making You Dumb

It’s true.

And somewhat ironic in that I’m giving you advice…

However, there’s a point at which consuming too much advice is hurting you. If you find yourself filling every spare moment scrolling online for the latest bit of sales advice, I have my own science-backed advice for you: Stop it.

I say this not just because I believe that we should start requiring warning labels on some of these supposed sales insights.

No, the reason to stop is because there comes a point where consuming too much of this “paint-by-numbers” sales advice actually hurts your ability to sell.

If you find yourself in a sales call trying to recall some tactical advice you read in an article and and consciously thinking “Should I do this now?” or warning yourself “Be careful not to do this,” you’re not doing yourself any favors.

In fact, research shows that you’re actually increasing the odds of screwing the call up.

The problem is what psychological researchers call explicit monitoring theory.

It’s the idea that when experienced sellers think too hard about what they’re doing in a particular situation, they tend to mess it up. (Picture an NBA player attempting a free throw line with the game on the line. And throwing up an air ball.)

Sellers can become so focused on their own actions in the moment that they lose sight of their ultimate goal: to help the buyer. And, end up becoming more self-conscious, more anxious and less productive.

In other words, consuming too much prescriptive, step-by-step sales advice can prevent you from being you. And make it harder to authentically connect and engage with your buyers.

To break free of what psychologists call the self-focus vortex, you need to keep your attention on your goal; not on your process.

Focus on what you need to do to help your buyer accomplish during each interaction.

Don’t get distracted by what you think you need to do or how you need to act on a sales call.

Focus on the buyer. It’s always all about them, not you.