By Todd Duncan

It makes no difference where you are in your sales career, whether you’re a sales manager, a sales broker, or a sales rep. The million-dollar question applies to everyone in the sales profession. The fact is, you will not reach your potential as a sales professional until you answer the question, and answer it correctly.

"Am I a salesperson in business, or am I a business owner in sales?"

Through my company's four day training event, High Trust Sales Academy, I have coached thousands of sales professionals to greater levels of success. And in almost every circumstance, the first business breakthrough occurred when the salesperson adopted something I call a “CEO mind-set,” which is the point at which one begins to see herself or himself as a business owner rather than a mere salesperson in business. It’s that simple change in thinking that becomes the catalyst for each salesperson’s climb toward greater success. And that simple change in thinking can jump-start your sales career as well.

Adopting a CEO mind-set begins when you stop thinking of yourself as an employee with a job and start thinking of yourself as an owner of a business with a compelling vision to help people. Consider how your thinking has affected your investments in your sales career to this point. When it comes to your sales job…

• Do you only spend money on the things that your employer will allow you to expense? A business owner would invest whatever is necessary to allow the business to thrive, even if that means using his or her own cash.

• Do you simply stay busy so the time passes more quickly each day? A business owner utilizes every minute of the workday because wasted time equals wasted money and wasted opportunities.

• Are you more concerned with your effort or your effectiveness? A business owner measures effectiveness first — sprinting on a treadmill gets one nowhere.

• Are you more concerned with the quantity or the quality of your sales? A business owner focuses on quality, knowing that trust established with clients multiplies quantity of sales.

• Are you more concerned with your activity or your results? A business owner measures results on a regular basis to determine what activities are and are not working.

• Are you more concerned with earning a potential client’s cash or confidence? A business owner knows that without trust she will never realize the full monetary value of a client, and therefore is willing to trade commission for constancy if necessary.

Would you say you’ve been thinking more like an employee or a CEO? The defining characteristic of a CEO mind-set is thinking like an owner. It is taking responsibility for your own growth and the growth of your business. It’s understanding that what you do as a salesperson is operate a business that provides products and services, and to do that well and with integrity increases the likelihood of your success and stability. It’s knowing that you must have a business plan to succeed. It’s knowing that you must have accountability, a “board of directors,” to help you consistently make wise decisions that will grow your business. Simply put, it’s acknowledging that you alone are the largest shareholder in your business, then beginning to act like it’s so.

Thomas Dreier once said, “The life each of us lives is the life within the limits of our own thinking.” And that is certainly true in your sales career. In fact, the successful salesperson knows that to elevate his career, to establish the lasting trust of his clients, he must first expand the limits of his thinking.

A Contrast in Thinking

There’s an obvious disparity between salespeople who’ve adopted a CEO mind-set and those who assume the mind-set of the majority. Here are several examples of how this contrast in thinking plays out every day in the world of sales:

Salesperson Thinking

• Pays only for what can be reimbursed

• Calls on anybody

• Reacts to interruptions

• Keeps safe clients

• Is busy and action oriented

• Puts quantity before quality

• Puts profits before people

• Puts revenue before reputation

• Builds business ahead of capacity

• Prioritizes schedules

• Is short-term oriented

• Relies on quick turnaround

• Succeeds by accident

CEO Thinking

• Invests money to make money

• Calls on the right body

• Makes sure interruptions don’t occur

• Terminates unprofitable relationships

• Is productive and results focused

• Knows quality creates more quantity

• Puts people before profits

• Puts reputation before revenue

• Builds capacity ahead of business

• Schedules priorities

• Is long-term oriented

• Relies on clients’ trust

• Succeeds by design

I want to paint this picture very clearly for you because it is so critical. Thinking like a CEO is the first key to becoming a highly successful salesperson. You see, the future of your sales career begins not in your hands or your feet, but in your mind.

In other words, how you think as a sales professional will determine how you act as a sales professional. Successful thinking precedes successful selling. And until you begin to think like a successful business owner you won’t consistently make decisions or take actions that maximize your sales business.

Look at it this way: Until you can think for yourself, customers won’t trust what you’re thinking. And in sales, trust is everything.

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