215: Sales And Your Mindset

<p>In sales we can defeat ourselves, because our way of thinking isn’t positive enough.  Consequently, we don’t challenge the status quo and we accept our lot, which usually doesn’t amount to much.  There is a better way</p> <p> </p> <p>There are two players in this mental game of sales.  The buyer and the seller and they are playing with entirely different strategies.  For the buyer, the idea of a salesperson symbolises risk.  Can they trust this person?  Their experience and a variety of media images, have coalesced to ensure buyers are always sceptical about people trying to sell them stuff.  As we say, “We all love to buy, but none of us want to be sold”. </p> <p> </p> <p>That is why all that American style hard sell, tricky closes, tie downs etc., fall flat on their face here in Japan.  I enjoy watching Grant Cardone’s sales videos but that aggressive style of selling will never work here with Japanese clients.  Buyers everywhere are cautious when it comes to dealing with salespeople, but ever more so in this country.</p> <p> </p> <p>Risk aversion is super powerful in Japan.  This is not the country of declaring bankruptcy then making a stunning comeback with your next company.  This is “fail once then you disappear forever”.  The credibility is gone and with so are you.  At this point, there are no second chances in Japan.  This applies inside companies too.  The sizes of the salary packages for Japanese executives would seem a joke in America.  This means that all the way down the line the rewards are not that huge.  The salaries are good, but not spectacular.  The upside of taking risks is small and the downside huge, so the clear lesson in Japan is “don’t take risks”.</p> <p> </p> <p>Again, by definition dealing with a new supplier is risky.  The unknown in Japan is fearsome.  The tried and trusted are always preferred over the unfamiliar and untested.  This latter variety of salesperson is us though – the untested, the new seller.  We are always going to be unknown to the buyers at the start.  So as sal