How To Improve Sales Skills: The Easiest Way

How To Improve Sales SkillsThis may be an quick how to improve sales skills article, but I promise you'll get a huge benefit when you do it regularly.

The problem, and solution, is all in your head.

Sports psychology has been using visualization for years. It gained popularity in the 1980s. And it's used by the best athletes in the world.

Studies have shown:

"The athletes who spent their time visualizing hit more of their serves in, bowled more strikes, and knocked down more free throws. At least, that is, as long as they visualized performing their skill successfully. If they imagined bowling strikes, they were more likely to bowl strikes than if they didn’t visualize anything at all. But if they visualized rolling gutter balls, their bowling got worse than if they did nothing."
- From Louder Than Words by Benjamin Bergen

If you're like most salespeople, you never practice. Hopefully you read books or listen to courses while driving to improve your skills. And, other than when you're in front of a customer, you don't take the time to practice your skills.

Visualizing makes practicing easy.

Why Visualizing Is Critically Important

Persuasion is a game. Practice like a professional.
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Again, from Louder Than Words, "When we visualize actions — consciously and intentionally activating mental images — we use the very parts of our brain that control our body’s movements."

Whether a baseball pitcher is visualizing pitching, or actually pitches a baseball, his brain works exactly the same.

This is important because it strengthens the neural networks in your brain. It wears neural paths so your brain won't have to work hard to repeat the behavior over and over. This is how to improve sales skills.

Watch a baby.

A baby reaches out to pick something up and doesn't have full control of his arm and fingers. He jerkily moves. Then, one day he gets it. He thinks, "I want to pick up the ball," and the hand moves without conscious effort.

Once you learn it, the neural network is there. The behavior becomes unconscious.

Like riding a bike.

You don't have to think about what to do. It just happens.

Visualizing builds your neural network and helps makes your behavior unconscious - and you will improve your sales skills.

How To Improve Sales Skills With Visualization: The Best Techniques

After each sales situation take time after to reflect on your conversation. Run through everything that happened. It doesn't matter if you made the sale or not.

Then, run through the conversation using your improved sales skills - the habits and behaviors you want to learn, and make unconscious.

Notice your body language. The words you use. The questions you ask. How your customer responds. Everything you see, hear, and feel.

Visualize it as you're there. You're doing everything perfectly.

Do this after each opportunity to influence and you'll improve your sales skills like a professional athlete works to improve his game.

After all, persuasion is just a game. Practice like a professional.

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