It's time to take control. Of yourself! You might not have realized it, but external forces and pressures have probably been shaping your life for you without you having a say in the matter. This happens so discretely sometimes that we can be completely unaware of the phenomenon. And yet, the result can be a sales person, hampered in their possibilities and opportunities, because of being hamstrung by beliefs and values that have been imposed, rather than chosen.

How you shape up as a sales person starts being determined very early in life. As soon as a baby is born, these external influences come into play and continue to influence a person through kindergarten, school, work and beyond. How you approach prospecting and cold calls for example is often a matter of how you have been educated to deal with unknown and with people (often one and the same thing). If your teachers and mentors let you experiment, while keeping a watchful eye, and gave you a variety of situations in which to learn, then you may well have a pro-active, enthusiastic approach which lets your embrace this part of selling. On the other hand, if you were warned off new experiences and told to conform, then sales prospecting may turn out to be a very stressful experience for you.

If you remain completely under the thumb of these external influences, you are unlikely to achieve your true potential in sales. Many companies have come to understand that the empowerment of their employees, employee motivation, whether in sales or other areas, is what can truly boost corporate performance. But empowerment will only work with someone who has the understanding that they can step outside the rigid environment that has been defined for them.

To turn into your ideal sales person will depend some self esteem improvement which will rely on your vision of such a being. To give you some tools to work with, we've set out a number of characteristics that are typically found in high performing, liberated sales people. But, is this yet another attempt to control your mind from the outside? Yes, in a sense it is. But, only so as to be able to make the possibility available to you so that it will be your choice to use them, or not, in order to take back control of your sales life.

Openness

High performing sales reps open their minds to the different possibilities that exist. They appreciate the chance to learn new information and facts in order to use and apply them. They also appreciate having a good leader and demonstrate the qualities required to be a good leader as well.

Goal orientation and focus

They also focus on what is important, using a capacity which they continually develop in order to develop personally for growth. One of their overriding goals is also to find other people like themselves.

Motivation

They desire enrichment in all senses of the word. They are willing to work with others to progress to and achieve this enrichment. By displaying persistence and tenacity, they strive towards their goals until their efforts pay off.

Honesty and integrity

They understand the importance of relationships and manage them with honesty and integrity. They are also honest with themselves and do not hesitate to drop past methods if it turns out that these methods are not getting the required results. Finally, they also have honest pride in what they do and the results that they achieve.