What I Wish I Knew Before Going Into Sales   To benefit the many new graduates and new sellers entering the sales arena, I’ve spent time thinking about the things I wish I knew before going into sales. This episode goes out to my buddy Isaac, who is just entering sales, as well as the other new graduates and new sellers. Many sellers have initial experiences that leave them wondering if they made the right career choice. This month on The Sales Evangelist, we’re focusing on the class of 2020, but our messages will resonate with those who are entering the sales world for the first time as well as veterans who have been selling for a while.  Believe in yourself and starve your doubts Mindset is incredibly important, but I didn’t understand that initially. I remember watching movies like Boiler Room that portrayed a charismatic sales rep who would sweet-talk buyers and say anything necessary to land a sale. I figured sales was entirely about skillset. When I came into sales, though, I realized that mindset is probably 70 percent of the effort. Unlike football, which requires learning physical tasks, sales is largely mental.  Are you self-conscious about your ability to find prospects? Are you worried about people saying no to you? Do you believe in your product or service? All of these things tie back to your mindset and your belief, and you have to begin with a belief that you’re going to succeed. Believe that what you’re doing matters, and believe that you’re going to succeed. I give credit to my buddy Jared Easley whose podcast Starve the Doubts first introduced me to the idea of dealing with doubt and worry. Feeling overwhelmed by doubts can cause you to wonder whether you’re cut out for sales, so you must avoid the temptation to fuel your doubts.  There’s a Native American proverb that says that we each have two wolves within us: a good one and an evil one. Whichever wolf we feed most often will survive. You can feed the doubt or feed the belief in success. Create a proper mindset, develop some goals, and determine how you will overcome your existing belief system.  Sales is not about winning or losing Movies like Boiler Room perpetuate the idea that in any transaction, the seller is the winner and the buyer is the loser since the seller got money and the buyer got hustled. I wish I had understood that better before I got into professional selling.  When I started selling B2B, I realized that I was engaging with very intelligent people. These were smart executives who weren’t going to be tricked or bamboozled. I wish I had realized this when I started selling.  I realized after studying The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People that our job as sellers is to create a situation in which both parties win. We should create relationships in which both parties will benefit because the seller will close the deal and the buyer will solve a problem. Because the buyer needs our expertise, we’ll provide it and help them overcome a challenge. Once that happens, he’ll richly compensate us for our diligence and support. Sales is about helping the buyer identify a solution to a problem and then persuade himself that your organization offers the best solution.  You must be ethical. You must deliver the things you promise to deliver in order to avoid customer churn. When you lead with the belief that your goal is to help solve problems, you’ll create raving fans in your customers. Focus on how you can help.  Become an expert at asking effective questions When I started out in sales, I thought that sellers did all the talking. I was surprised to find that many of the successful sellers are like Dr. Phil: they ask effective questions.  Sellers who do this build rapport, and they are able to gather all the information they need to solve problems. And when you master the art of asking effective questions and doing follow up, your customers will tell you everything. Consider a situation where you ask the buyer why his company is considering making