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When I first dipped my toes into the world of freelancing, the idea of selling myself and my services made my stomach churn.
Sales didn’t come naturally to me at all. I’d break out in a nervous sweat during client calls, stumble over my words when discussing rates, and end up agreeing to ridiculous projects for embarrassingly low pay.
But as time went on, something shifted. I began to develop what I now recognize as a healthy sales mindset.
Over time, I realized flexing my sales muscle wasn’t only useful for closing sales. I was honing a long list of soft skills that serve me well in all aspects of life.
In this article, we’ll explore how adopting a sales mindset can pay off in ways you might never have imagined, both in your career and your personal life.
Understanding the sales mindset
When you hear “sales mindset,” what comes to mind?
If you’re picturing a pushy salesperson trying to convince you to buy something you don’t need, it’s time to hit the reset button. A true sales mindset is far more nuanced and universally applicable than that stereotype.
A sales mindset is about developing a set of life skills that extend far beyond the realm of traditional selling. It’s a perspective that embraces the motto: “Life is selling.”
Here are just some of the skills you will improve as you develop a sales mindset, with more resources if you want to focus on any of these abilities.
Effective Communication
A sales mindset sharpens your ability to articulate ideas clearly and persuasively. This can help you in so many areas of life, and can be applied to everything from short text messages to deep conversations.
Empathy and Active Listening
Great salespeople don’t just talk; they listen. They put themselves in others’ shoes to understand their needs and perspectives. This fosters deeper connections with the people you encounter in life.
Problem-Solving
Identifying pain points and offering solutions is at the heart of sales, and most of the challenging parts of life. You’ll use problem-solving skills in your education, your career moves, and your romantic relationships.
Resilience
Selling inherently involves rejection, even for the best salespeople on the planet. A healthy selling mindset allows you to dust yourself off after these setbacks and get back on track faster.
Negotiation
Selling requires you to learn how to persuade people to see your side of an argument, and how to compromise so everyone walks away pleased. These same skills are also vital for interpersonal conflicts with friends, family members, or lovers.
Adaptability
The ability to pivot your approach based on changing circumstances is essential in today’s world, where life-altering technology seems to come out every week.
A sales mindset empowers you to negotiate, collaborate, and persuade your way through the chaos and uncertainty of life. It allows you to make progress on your own life goals while also creating value for others.
5 scenarios where a sales mindset pays off
Yes, cultivating a sales mindset will make you a better salesperson—obviously! But it will also pay dividends in ways you may not expect. Here are five examples.
1. Acing job interviews
Job interviews are essentially sales pitches where you’re the product. By approaching them with a sales mindset, you transform from a nervous candidate into a confident professional showcasing your value.
Your active listening skills, honed through sales experiences, allow you to pick up on what the company is looking for. This insight helps you tailor your responses, framing your experiences and skills in a way that directly addresses the employer’s needs.
When faced with tough interview questions, your problem-solving abilities kick in. You can address concerns proactively, turning potential negatives into positives. This adaptability is crucial when you have to think quickly.
Your natural curiosity, another key trait of successful salespeople, will shine through if you ask thoughtful questions about the role and company. This not only helps you gather important information but also demonstrates your genuine interest in the role.
Perhaps the most important skill in a job interview is communication. Your resume, correspondence, and LinkedIn profile are all ways for you to communicate your value to potential employers or clients.
Got an interview coming up? Here are a few more resources:
2. Climbing the career ladder
Think of your career as your personal product. You’ve invested time, energy, and probably a fair bit of money into developing it (even if you aren’t sure where you’ll ultimately end up).
Learning how to sell your career aspirations to colleagues and employers helps you climb the career ladder in the right direction. With a sales mindset, you can persuade others to be invested in your career goals.
In this scenario, your customers are your managers and stakeholders in the business. Consider their pain points. What keeps them up at night? Once you know this, you can position yourself as the solution.
Did you streamline a process that saved the company time and money? That’s not just a job well done—it’s a selling point for your next performance review.
Part of your sales mindset is creating a perception of yourself for others, so they understand where your strengths lie. Are you the go-to person for tough problems? The one who gives honest feedback? The person who will crack a joke? These intangibles form your personal brand, and they’re just as crucial as your technical skills.
Your ability to network effectively also plays a huge role in how quickly you advance your career. With a sales mindset, you’ll have the conversation skills, confidence, and charisma to make strong connections with people who can help you take the next step on your path.
For more networking and career-climbing tips, check out these articles:
3. Forging alternative career paths
Not everyone dreams of climbing the corporate ladder. Maybe you’re like me, and prefer alternatives like freelancing, starting your own business, or exploring a completely different industry.
If so, your sales mindset is your secret weapon.
I’m not just talking about selling your products and services, though a sales mindset obviously helps with that too.
When you carve your own path, you need to convince others (and sometimes yourself) that your choice is viable and valuable. This is where your sales skills really shine.
Let’s say you’re thinking about freelancing. You’ll need to pitch your services to potential clients, negotiate rates, and build a personal brand that sets you apart from the competition.
Or maybe you’re dreaming of launching a startup. You’ll need to sell your idea to investors, partners, and eventually customers. Your ability to communicate your vision clearly and persuasively can make the difference between a dream and a thriving business.
Even if you’re just considering a major career change, your sales mindset will help you identify transferable skills and present them in a way that appeals to employers in your new field.
Forging your own path often means facing rejection and setbacks (I can tell you all about it sometime, if you buy me a drink first). But here’s where the resilience you’ve built through your sales mindset becomes invaluable. Each ‘no’ becomes a learning opportunity, a chance to refine your approach and come back stronger.
I’ve got lots of resources for folks who want to follow a unique career path:
4. Setting and maintaining personal boundaries
In sales, you learn to articulate value propositions and negotiate terms. Apply this same principle to your personal interactions, and you have a blueprint for healthier boundaries.
For instance, instead of reluctantly agreeing to another commitment, you might say, “I appreciate you thinking of me, but my schedule is at capacity right now. Can we look at this again next month?” This approach respects both your own needs and the other person’s request.
The empathy you need for a sales mindset also comes into play. To set boundaries, you need to anticipate how people might react, so you can be prepared for what is likely to be a tough conversation.
Your sales mindset also equips you with the confidence to stick to your guns when someone pushes back (which always happens when you set boundaries). Just as you’d handle objections in a sales conversation, you can address boundary-crossing calmly and firmly, without feeling guilty or backing down.
Setting boundaries is hard work, but it pays off tenfold in the depth of your relationships and the quality of life. Here are resources to help:
5. Achieving personal goals
Your sales mindset extends far beyond professional wins—it’s also a powerful tool for crushing personal goals. Whether you’re aiming to run a marathon, learn a new language, or finally write that memoir (talking to myself here), the same skills that help you close deals can help you cross personal finish lines.
A long sales process teaches you how to break down problems and approach them from new angles. You set benchmarks, and learn how to focus on progress, not perfection. These exact same strategies work when learning new skills or tackling new personal projects.
Your sales skills can also help you get the most out of mentorship, which is sort of like strapping a rocket pack to your back when it comes to personal goals. With a sales mindset, you’ll be prepared to take on feedback and ask pertinent questions to progress your objective.
Pretty much all of the other applications we’ve talked about in this article apply to your personal goals. Handling rejection, growing a network, forging new paths—all of it will serve you as you set out to achieve your dreams.
From acing interviews to achieving personal goals, a sales mindset is your Swiss Army knife for success. Keep honing this mindset, and watch as new possibilities unfold in every area of your life.