Famine or Feast - which mentality are you?

Overview

The Inner Game affects so many salespeople and affects 50% of your sales results. This article helps you to recognise where you are in the Game so you can stop, pause and adopt a strategy to change.

What does famine and feast mean?

Margaret Thatcher, the UK’s leader back in the 1980’s had her personal records released last month and one that hit the news was her diet plan. Intrigued I started following the Maggie Thatcher diet and have been doing so for a week now. For those of you who have seen it, you know that you can lose 20 pounds in two weeks. It’s all about feasting on protein rather than carbs.

Incredible stuff and we’ll soon see how accurate the weight loss claims are.

The diet reminded me of the sales concept – famine and feast, which can help us determine where we are placed in our Inner Game state of mind. It all depends on how we see things. Do you look out the window and see constant opportunities, believe totally in your abilities, feel relaxed and focus 100% on your customer’s needs rather than yours. If the customer is not a fit and you don’t get the sale, so be it; you move on to the next one knowing full well that you have the ability to solve their problems. You don’t always have massive sales bubbling, you just know you will. If so, you’re in a feast mentality.

If you stare out the car window and see scarcity and treat every prospect as a potential customer, thinking that you better win the sale at this afternoon’s meeting or you’re doomed. Are you constantly looking inwards at yourself, some self-doubt? Going from one sale to the next and continually wondering where the next piece of business is going to come from. Then you’re in famine mode.

Of course, we all move from an attitude of feast to famine on a regular basis, sometimes hourly, but many salespeople I know are in the feast zone much of the time. On the other hand I know of salespeople that are in famine. Constantly struggling and invariably blaming others for their misfortune. “It’s the government’s fault” or “the customer was really awkward” or worse still “it’s back office support”. Customers are never awkward; it’s usually us (in famine frame of mind).

The key is to recognise which frame of mind you’re in, catch yourself. And then do something to change. It’s all how you see things and your state of mind.

A tale of two salespeople

Let me tell you a short story about two salespeople I knew in my real estate agency selling days back in the late 1980’s.

Mark was just about to turn 21 and was a very successful and likeable negotiator. Mark was handsome, suave, bred to deal with very high net worth clients and oozed confidence and success. He was relaxed and measured. Nothing would frustrate him in the sales world and he approached his sales with easy confidence that he would be successful and provide copious value to his clients. He believed in a world of plenty, a bountiful sales mountain where, if he just showed up, he had the innate ability to do well. He just new it. Never to show off, time for all people and an instinctive self belief in himself.

Needless to say, he was the best sales negotiator the company had.

Tracy was the opposite. Always rushing around, never finishing things, constantly seeking re-assurance as to how she was doing. If she had a sales success which she often did, she would make sure we all new about it. Not in an arrogant way, that wasn’t Tracy, but in a desperate “look at me, I’m good at this” manner. Tracy was constantly looking at self improvement books, always thinking she wasn’t quiet there yet, defensive of feedback. You walked on egg shells with Tracy, wary of saying anything about business. If times were lean, which they sometimes were, she would blame anyone or everyone. The recession, the banks, the clients, the government – there was always someone to blame.

Mark was in a mentality of feast; Tracy was in famine.

Recognise yourself yet?

Recognise anyone yet? Or yourself on occasions? I think we all have moments of famine thinking and times when we are viewing feast. Sometimes we say “I’m on a roll” which is totally legitimate because you’ve had some really good results which are spurring on your beliefs and attitude. Being in feast is different – it’s a constant mindset that you have even when you’re business results are appalling. You just know that so long as you carry on doing what you do, success will come.

Some people say they’re on a downward spiral, which is often caused by a series of bad results, dismal luck and events going against us. Famine thinking again is different, we persistently have the belief that we’re not quite good enough, we have to hunt for every piece of business, everyone is a prospect, we hardly ever move out of our comfort zone and are constantly doubting ourselves.

A checklist of beliefs and behaviours

Famine and feast are states of mind so let’s talk about the beliefs and attitudes that we have when in these modes, the sales behaviours we perform and how our customers perceive us.

	Feast	Famine
Beliefs and Attitudes	Don’t worry about rejection, they just move onto the next client Are confident of their own abilities Like themselves Generally have positive future thoughts Are relaxed Believe in showing up and just performing as always Are open to new ideas Have no need to prove themselves Believe in solving their customer’s problems not just selling them stuff Are confident of new business believing that the pie is big enough for all Believe it’s not about me, it’s about the customer	Believe in protection first and foremost Think small, have limited goals and stay within their comfort zone Constantly think of themselves and their own needs Don’t always like themselves Constantly have to improve themselves as they’re never happy with their ability Fear the future and worry about up and coming events Fear new ideas Always asking for approval, asking “Am I doing OK?”
Sales behaviours	Act relaxed, confident and naturally self assured Plan easily and effortlessly both big goals and actions Stick to their plans Take risks Are internally motivated Look forwards rather than backwards Listen to their customers more as they put them at number one. Really match their customer’s needs and problems to their solutions Never get into an objection battle with customers. Have meaningful conversations with clients, question and probe to solve the problem Are problem solvers	Are external in their motivation – seek reassurance. Try too hard Talk too much to put their points across Attempt to get acknowledgement from others Try to prove themselves too much Find it hard to plan, preferring to be continually flexible Worry about business and show this on their face Go into sales meetings desperate for the business Generate objections in their sales process and fight hard to overcome these Are rushed and busy all the time Don’t take risks Act defensively when given feedback
How customers see them	Attractive to buyers Helpful consultants Enjoyable and profitable to be with – they enjoy their company Expert in their area	Pushy Desperate for the business which the buyer cares little for Seeing the buyer in £ signs Focussing on themselves only Blame “merchants” who always put the responsibility on others, sometimes their own company

Your next steps

There we have an overview of the main beliefs, values, behaviours and external aspects of the two types of salespeople mentality. Where do you find yourself? If you ever catch yourself, maybe fleetingly, in famine outlook, stop and take a breath and find a strategy to change.

There are a variety of strategies to become more resilient in your Inner Game. Belief change work, affirmations, examining your motivation, future pacing your goals, using success strategies from others e.g. Edison, positive attitude brewing, resource anchoring.

Yes, they all sound a little speculative but so is Margaret Thatcher’s diet, but when you appreciate that your state of mind in selling affects 50% of your results, it’s worth spending time developing your tactics to adjust your thinking. But if I see another egg – whether boiled, poached, scrambled…I’m going to scream.