Something I truly believe is that most every salesperson has some degree of fear of selling. Whether that fear is based on not being able to make a quota, letting their team down, being treated poorly by a customer or management, being rejected, being laughed at and judged, or whatever else the mind can conjure up. But trust me, your mind creates a terrible false reality you will likely never live out in the real world. Learning how to overcome the fear of failure and instead have success begins with your mindset.

Strive to have a Mindset of Growth

There are different mindsets you can choose to have and each will affect how you think about your sales career and ultimately how successful you are. If you choose a fixed mindset that believes you’re either born with it for sales or you’re not, then you are going to be sadly disappointed because no one is a born salesperson, salespeople are made. Instead, I recommend you choose a mindset focused on constant growth.

Focusing on having a mindset of growth, it is easier to overcome your fears of selling because you know that even though you may fail, you will learn something new that will make you better next time, so in reality, you never fail unless you quit! This is why salespeople with a growth mindset will continue to try and try again because they believe they can develop and grow over time into successful salespeople.

For some wonderful insight into a Fixed vs. Growth Mindset, I highly recommend you read the book “Mindset” by Dr. Carol S. Dweck. It is one of my favorite books on the shelf, and one that I learned so much from and continue to reread for insight into this subject. However, along with mindset, you have to have a healthy self-image.

Self-Image is EXTREMELY important

Know this, it is very hard to act consistently in a way inconsistent with how you see yourself. You MUST get sold on yourself and your self-worth. Yes, you are New to Sales right now and you don’t know everything that you will know someday, but you have a passion for helping your customer and you need to use that to maintain a healthy self-image as you start out in your sales career. You have a tremendous amount of value even as a new salesperson that you bring to the table with you, remember that as you get started.

Also, you must see yourself as a salesperson, and when you look in the mirror you need to like what you see. If you believe and buy into the stereotypes given to salespeople, and if you yourself have ill feelings towards salespeople when you’re in the shoes of the consumer, you will, in turn, assume the worst opinion of yourself from your customers. Getting yourself sold on you and on your sales career is critical to a healthy self-image and your ability to overcome your fear of failure and instead have success in sales!

Customers are NOT rejecting YOU!

This one takes a little longer to really sink in, but the sooner you figure it out the better off you will be and the more successful as well. When a customer decides not to do business with you, you cannot take it personally and MUST realize it is not a “Personal Rejection” but rather a “Business Refusal” to the offer made. Too many new salespeople hear no from their customers and believe this is a personal rejection, after several of these “rejections” the salesperson has had enough.

It is the offer that the customer is saying NO to, so please don’t confuse this as a personal rejection. Once you realize this it becomes much easier to overcome the fear of failing in sales. Also, you must understand that a No today doesn’t mean a No forever. Don’t give up and you never know you might just close a deal you thought you’d never make. Every No leads you closer to a Yes, so when you’re New to Sales keeping looking to help people and don’t worry about the No’s because you’re looking for yeses and there plenty out there waiting for you!

Wrapping it all UP!

When you are new to sales it is very common and normal to have some healthy fear inside you, we all go through it and many salespeople even those that have been selling for years still have some fears and anxieties every single day. We are human and even the most experienced salesperson has to remind him or herself that thinking positive, having a positive self-image, and not taking No personally from a customer is important to having success in spite of fear.