How to Increase Sales: 3 Practical Tips to Empower Millennial Leaders to use Confident Self-Talk

How to Increase Sales: 3 Practical Tips to Empower Millennial Leaders to use Confident Self-Talk

In a recent Forbes article, I investigated the possibility that social media might be negatively impacting the business goals and sales results of your Millennial sales leaders.

I was curious to take a deeper look into the effects of social media on the moods of emerging leaders, after reading about former Facebook executive, Chamath Palihapitiya, telling an audience at Stanford Graduate School of Business that people needed to take a “hard break” from social media.

How is social media impacting your sales and business results?

In the Forbes article, I cover how to coach your Millennial salespeople to fight the Need for Approval and Deal with Rejection. In addition, Eliminating low Self-esteem will help solve growth-limiting business frustrations such as:

• • Long sales cycle with a delayed closing
  • Low conversion rates from quotes/demos to sales
  • Margins slipping too quickly
  • Losing too much business to competition
  • Complacent salespeople
  • Inaccurate, inconsistent forecasts

What is your coaching and mentoring strategy to develop a productive sales mind in your Millennial salespeople so they don’t allow social media or other forms of negativity to impact their sales and leadership results?

The impact of social media on the mental and emotional wellbeing of Millennials and Gen Z is a focus area for many researchers. Experienced leaders know that the colorful posts of exciting events often represent a distorted version of what’s really going on in someone’s life. However, as I’ve mentioned in the Forbes article, it can still drive other users, maybe your salespeople, into a state of negative thinking – or even depression – when they compare it to their own lives.

By applying your wisdom and experience, you can provide practical coaching and other resources to teach your emerging sales leader how they might change negative thinking patterns to be more productive.

Eliminate Low Self-esteem

In addition to coaching your Millennials to fight Need for Approval and to Deal with Rejection, you can also work with them to Eliminate Low Self-esteem.

84% of salespeople have self-limiting beliefs that stop them in their tracks when they should be moving forward during a sales conversation. Having a low self-esteem is one of those track-stoppers.

What can you do to assist your emerging sales leaders to get stronger so they can more confidently handle a broader range of selling scenarios?

Step up and Take Action: 

• Chart a growth path to overcome sales weaknesses.

In the Forbes article, I mentioned that I use a validated process that quickly identifies over 75 hidden sales and leadership mindset weaknesses that are stalling growth and undermining results. Based on the insights gained, you can chart a unique growth path for your up-and-coming salespeople.

• Encourage your Millennial salespeople to talk about the research on social media. How do they think social media might be impacting their self-perceptions? If you observe (and they admit) that they are making comparisons that are critical, destructive, and sabotaging, invite them to take action.

Ask them to write all their negative thoughts down for one week. Then, discuss what they have written and show them how negative beliefs are limiting their personal and professional growth. Work with them to write a positive action-oriented replacement. In Millennials Matter  I outline these steps as: recognize the lie, break the lie, and, install truth.

• Motivate emerging sales leaders to focus on the gifts, talents, and skills that are built into their DNA.

Our research indicates that 50% of your sales peoples’ selling competencies are represented by their unique sales DNA. Taking an assessment to discover their strengths will assist your salespeople to banish low self-esteem.

Who on your sales team is struggling with this hidden weakness?  How is it impacting their performance? How do you ensure that you don’t hire new salespeople with this weakness? Check out this webinar.

As an experienced sales leader, you understand the importance of employing salespeople who will succeed in their roles. The negative impact of social media is only one of many challenges that can derail your up-and-coming sales leaders. They will benefit from your mentoring, by implementing healthy social media habits and overcoming negative thinking and low self-esteem so they can exceed their business goals and sales targets.

Leadership Lesson: Assist your emerging sales leaders to eliminate low self-esteem so they can more confidently handle a broader range of selling scenarios. 

Leadership Question: How can you assist your emerging sales leaders to overcome negative thinking so they can exceed their business goals and sales targets?

© Copyright 2018 Danita Bye