CUTTER CONSULTING GROUP

E65a: Sales Mindset Week: Comparison Is A Dangerous Game

December 29, 2023


How do you personally deal with comparing yourself to others, especially in the age of social media, when it comes to achieving your goals?

One of the most common things that happen on the sales floor (and in our lives) is comparison.


We compare our results to what other people are producing.


For some, this can work really well as a way to motivate. Every sales floor needs a ‘rabbit’ for the rest of the team to chase. Without a top rep setting and raising the bar it can be tough to move the whole team in the right direction.


But for some, seeing another salesperson crush it can be demotivating. “I could never close deals like they do.” “I wish I was that good.”


How do you use comparison?


Should you compare your results to what others are doing?


I just had to cover this topic regarding mindset, so I made a bonus episode.

  • Show Transcript

    Hi and welcome to a special episode of The Sales Experience Podcast. This is kind of a bonus episode. I know that we just did 61 through 65 which was on sales mindset 2.0 how to focus on the right mindset to help you achieve your sales goals. And of course, it can also apply to any other area in your life. Going through everything you heard me say it over and over again, I’m going to keep saying it over and over again.


    It’s not that anything is right or wrong or good or bad, or you’ve got to not have a negative one in order to have a positive one. You can’t win without having a positive mindset. Generally that’s true. But sometimes a negative mindset can actually drive some people where they just focus on kind of some negative things or fear or something else that motivates them that will actually drive better results.


    Other people find more success when they’re in a positive mind frame. I personally think a more positive mindset, especially when dealing with consumers, um, clients, businesses, whoever your prospect is in order to move them forward, you want to have a positive outlook trying to help them, trying to do the best thing for them.


    However, you know, the whole point of this show is for you to identify like this week it was about identifying in yourself the mindset that you currently have, what’s working, what’s not working in terms of how to get your goals.


    Now in this special episode, why I wanted to throw this in as an additional item is I was thinking about it after recording the last one and all of the different things that can go into a positive, a negative, a mediocre mindset and comparison. That’s what I realize is that there’s a lot of times where I see people either win or lose in the sales team because of comparison.


    This obviously happens in life as well. Social media is just magnifying and expanding this as a thing that happens for a lot of people where you’re scrolling through some kind of social media feed, whether it’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, whatever it is, and you’re seeing other people who have what you think you want to have or they’re displaying things.


    As Sam Crowley says, so he’s got the Every Day Is Saturday Podcast. Make sure you check that out. If there’s anything that you want to create in your life or you just want to hear some motivating, exciting podcasts. That guy’s been doing it forever and I love listening to his episodes. Because it’s just so fun and so short and it’s kind of the basis of what I’ve done with this and trying to make it a daily thing. But as Sam Crowley says all the time, it’s not that other people have better lives than you.


    It’s just they take better pictures and so that it’s better pictures, better filters, better angles. Um, you know, nowadays online there’s a lot of people like influencers, especially fitness people on Instagram coming out and showing here is the picture with the angles. And the lighting that I take. And then here’s the real world picture and you can see how everyone is more normal.


    Nobody is really perfect and how everyone is. But that comparison eats people alive. It can be difficult. I know for myself, I struggle with that where scrolling through Facebook, literally it looks like everybody’s on vacation. Everyone has a giant home, everyone has lots of money, everyone has shiny cars. Everyone’s family is perfect, everyone’s lives are perfect. And what I know is that what people show on the outside is what they want others to see. And that is generally different than what’s happening on the inside.


    Everybody, I will tell you this, and I know this to be true. Everybody has something they’re going through. Could be health, finances, relationship work, you know, mental stuff. There’s something that everybody is dealing with. Could be something in their family. Somebody is sick. There’s always a challenge. Everyone’s got something. And for a lot of people it even goes to the extreme.


    I know this from myself where I’ve been at many times in my life where there’s things going on behind the scenes in my life that I really don’t even want anybody to know about. I want everybody to, um, uh, not realize what I have going on or see those things, see whatever I’m struggling with, whatever challenges, whatever is eating me alive inside, you know, I want it to be okay on the outside. And so I deal with that as well.


    Comparison can really kill it. And I mentioned him the other day and again, whether you’re religious or not, Pastor Steven Furtick, which he has some great things I’ve heard over the years. But one thing he suggests and watch out for is don’t compare other people’s highlight films to your behind the scenes. And what that means is when you scroll through social media or you see somebody out and about, you see someone driving around, you see someone at the store, you see someone at work on the sales floor closing deals or having success.


    You don’t compare their highlights, what they want you to see with the dirty nasty behind the scenes crap that you have going on inside reason why I mention all this, not just as a general mindset, kind of an attitude adjustment focus for you to have, but it’s also to keep that in mind.


    On the sales floor, I see a lot of people on the sales floor and a sales team at the dealership in the showroom, a, you know, in a call center working home, uh, working at home, Eh, in a remote environment. I see a lot of people who maybe their average and performance or they’re struggling for performance and they see other people closing deals, making money, having success.


    Instead of being driven to that and being like, I want to be like John Because John is crushing it and I want to take notes from him. I would love to spend time with him. Maybe I’ll take them out to coffee or lunch. I want to figure out what John is doing so that I can replicate that and get to that level and help myself win better, easier, have more success, and just be generally happier with what I’m doing in the sales environment.


    That’s one attitude, but that’s not what most people do. The really driven people will do. They’ll say, I want to sit next to John. Hey manager, please move me next to John. I want to sit next to John. I’m going to absorb everything I can. I want to win. If you have that attitude, you’re doing great. That’s the right approach. If you’re not doing that, then you really want to look at why not?


    Because what happens a lot, and this is kind of goes into the discussion I had the other day with the sheep and the crabs and mediocrity is a lot of times we look at our lives, we look at the people that we’re hanging out with, our circle of friends, and then we see someone who is successful and you get kind of in that crab mode where you comparing yourself to them and it’s like, oh, there’s so much further on, or I’m going to try to drag them down, or I don’t even want to hang out with them because there’s so much better than me.


    Right.


    Do not ever think that anybody is better than you in any way. Now, what could be true is that what they’re doing versus what you’re doing is obviously working but more in line with the fact that maybe that’s more in tune with who they are, their strengths, their skills, abilities, experiences, and their talents overall and so maybe they’re in the right place more than you are.


    A lot of times it’s that self awareness and reflection of where should I really be? Like that person is just crushing it. Absolutely crushing it in sales and maybe that’s more of where they should be and maybe I should be in a different department or a different role or selling something different. Maybe you know, big ticket items. Sales is not for me or maybe small ticket sales is not for me and I should be doing bigger stuff.


    So try to keep that in mind that it may be a function of the right fit for them versus you. But if it’s apples to apples and you’re both like in the place where you should be, you know that you should be in sales, you know this is a good fit for you, then don’t look at them with envy and jealousy and have that comparison as a negative thing where you feel bad. Right.


    Same thing like when you’re scrolling through social media, if you see other people’s success or their highlight films and it makes you feel bad about your current situation, that something to reflect on instead. What I think. And I think what’s more healthy is, hey, that’s great. That’s awesome for them. I’m at a different point in my life. I’m in a different place. Or what can I do to have more of what I want from my goals, where it’s also not a comparison of what somebody else has for their goals.


    Cause everybody’s different. Right? And I’ve seen this before, played out where on the sales floor somebody is crushing it, they’re doing great. They have goals they got a family to take care of. And then there’s a younger single guy maybe living at home still. And he’s comparison comparing his kind of goals, his efforts and, and, and the results to other people and saying, well, you know, I’m not married. I don’t have kids. I don’t have a house.


    You know, my goals aren’t important. I just want to buy a car. I just want to move out. And that’s not as good. And so there’s this comparison that’s like, I’m less than, instead of my goals are equally important, but they’re different. So remember, we’re all different. When you look at that comparison, when it comes to mindset and success on the floor, remember two things.


    One is we’re all different and so what somebody else is doing is different than you.


    What their goals are is different than you. You want to make it all about you and what’s important to you and your life at this moment. Then you want to shift your, your mind from comparing other people who are winning the top people on the leaderboard to yourself and feeling bad about yourself and negative about yourself too. Instead going, how can I be like John, what can they do? What is he doing that successful that I can apply to me in my own custom way because I’m different than John, but maybe there’s some things I can learn from. How do I get better at my craft? What do I need to learn and study?


    Because one of the things is when you compare yourself to other people who are winning, that should help you say it is possible. Because a lot of people say, well, I can never be like John John’s closing. You know, 40 deals a month or five deals a month or whatever it is for your business and instead you want to go, wow, John’s closing that many sales.


    That means it’s possible. I just got to figure out the formula for the same thing that for a longest time nobody thought somebody could run a four minute mile or less and then somebody finally did it and then everyone else realized it was possible and then within months there was a lot of people running even faster than a four minute mile and it just became the snowball effect of belief.


    So when you see someone winning, don’t compare and put yourself down. See that and say, I can do that too. It’s possible. If it’s possible, how do I figure it out? Hopefully that helps us. Bonus episode. I appreciate you listening to this.


    Hopefully all this is helping you find more success, create more success, create the better sales experience for yourself, where you’re enjoying every single day and what you’re doing, and then also creating and pushing that experience to your customers so that they’re enjoying the process of buying from you. And we’re changing that landscape.


    And as always, remember everything in life is sales and people remember the experience you gave them.


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By Jason Cutter February 19, 2025
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By Jason Cutter February 18, 2025
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By Jason Cutter February 17, 2025
The Abundance of Options Today we all have lots of options. While writing this I could speak into my phone and order whatever I want. I can get food delivered before I finish writing this article. I could get a TV delivered to my door before I wake up tomorrow. When someone wants to buy something, they are armed with as much information as they want to access. They can research, read reviews, and watch videos about a product or company. The Shift in Power to the Buyer Because of this, the power balance of sales has shifted away from the salesperson and company to the buyer. Knowledge is power – and they now have all the knowledge they want. With knowing that they have ultimate choice of what to buy (internet and globalization has led to the ability to order anything you want from anywhere…so you are no longer limited to the stores you can drive to and what they have on hand), it means that everything is a commodity in their minds. Nothing is unique or special. Everything is interchangeable. Does the Sales Experience Even Matter? So, this means the sales experience doesn’t matter anymore. There is no reason to put effort into the sales process, the conversations with potential customers. No value in spending time trying to ‘help’ people – since they just view products, salespeople, and companies as interchangeable. You are not special, so there is no benefit in caring. They will walk into your store, and they will decide what they want. They fill out your online for, and they decide if they answer when you call and how the call will go. They walk up to your event/booth, and they decide how the interaction will go and if they want to listen to your elevator pitch. They will let you know if they are interested in moving forward. They will let you know how they want to buy. So, like I said above, there is no real value anymore in the sales experience. Or could it actually be valuable? Is it possible that all that matters IS the sales experience? If people feel they have ultimate information and control of the buying process, how do they decide on what to buy and who to buy from? When I search on Amazon for a product type I have never purchased before, how do I pick? When I want to go shopping for garden supplies for the house, how do I pick where to go? When I need to buy a new fridge, who will I hand my money over to? The cheapest place with terrible service? The place with reasonable prices and great service? The Sales Experience Shapes the Decision I choose based on the sales experience that I will receive. With everything else being equal, I (and I believe most people) will select the place to shop at or the products to buy online based on the experience I receive. To me all that matters is the experience. While I am trying to buy something. Once I receive it – ensure it does what I need it to do. With the feeling of unlimited choices, it can actually be harder now to buy something that in the past. People get into analysis paralysis more often. Which means that for consumers to buy something new they need help. They need a professional salesperson. They need a sales experience that matches their expectations. They want a guide who will help them make the right decision for them, with an experience that goes above and beyond what more people receive any more when they walk into a store, call a company’s toll-free number, or visit a website and have to fill out a form. If you want to succeed in sales – the only thing that matters is the sales experience you provide.
By Jason Cutter February 13, 2025
The Balance of Effort in Sales The blogs this week have been about the other person going most of the way. Whether it’s a prospective customer and your salesperson, where the salesperson truly can’t want the deal or make most of it happen for that customer to truly be successful. On the path for that prospect to becoming a customer, they should go at least 51/49. Whether it’s your team and their manager, the manager can’t want the team to succeed more than the team actually wants it for themselves. It’s not scalable for the coach (manager) to run on the field every play to win the game for the salespeople. What about sales ops processes and systems? What about the tools available to the sales team and the ones that are classified as sales enablement? In a reversal of philosophy, I believe the sales ops processes should go 90, the team should only have to go 10. Why Do We Need Salespeople? Let’s start where it matters – what is the point of having salespeople? I know many owners question the need and desire to have salespeople. They are hard to manage, tough to deal with, always want more money (potentially for doing less work and closing less deals), and are very resistant to change. Of course, that is a generalization. Of course, there are salespeople who don’t check those boxes. However, having worked with a lot of teams in a lot of industries, that generalization isn’t completely wrong or unfair. So if there is even a small part of that which is accurate, why would we even mess with the messiness of having salespeople? Of needing to employ and manage humans? The Human Element in Sales We need them. That’s why. Even in 2025, AI and technology has not successfully replicated the requirements of sales – which is about helping a human (prospect/customer) make the right decision and move outside of their comfort zone to buy something new. It still takes your human (salesperson) to persuade that other human. It’s why I say all the time that its not B2B, B2C, Retail, SaaS, etc. – it’s H2H. Sure, people can buy something online or even in a store without speaking to someone. But if it’s a considered purchase where there are options and decisions to be considered – it still takes a human being involved. That means ultimately your human (salesperson) has one job, and one job only – persuade the right prospective humans to buy. Minimizing Distractions for Salespeople Everything outside of that mission, task, focus is a distraction that takes away from their highest and best use. Imagine if we had a surgeon who had to prep the room, prep the patient, schedule the surgery and meetings, and do all the parts of the surgery themselves. Nope – they show up for the surgery and do what they do best. Then they take off their gown, gloves, and walk away to get cleaned up and move on to the next thing. Your goal as a sales ops leader is to support the team with systems and processes that allow them to focus on the one thing you need them for. The human part. It would be amazing if they could show up, talk to people, and make sales happen. Of course, there is more that they (and any professional) need to do before, during, and after the sales conversation. But your goal is to minimize all that. Every hour that your salespeople aren’t selling or doing sales-related activities, they aren’t moving revenue forward. The Ultimate Goal of Sales Ops What processes can you put in place that go 90 percent of the way, where the salesperson can do the last 10 percent? An example would be building an email campaign that runs automatically, and when the right people reply, the salesperson gets involved in getting that person from email to phone call. Another example would be your CRM serving up people for the salesperson to call – leads or anyone in the sales pipeline flow – with all the backstory, research, data, intel needed for them to review it then take action. What can you put into place that takes away as much distraction and effort from your sales team such that they can focus on the one thing you need to focus on – other humans?
By Jason Cutter February 12, 2025
The Danger of Doing Too Much as a Sales Leader Alright – so maybe they don’t need to go 90. In true servant leadership mode, you would go way more than 10% of the way to your team. But you have to be careful, as a sales leader. The inclination might be to do it all for them. To help them close their sales. To make excuses for them to your leadership as to why they aren’t closing more sales. Especially considering the very high likelihood that you are a sales manager because you were a great salesperson in the role that you are now managing. And there is a slight chance that you are a player-coach…so you are leading and selling. This can make it really tough not to want to run out on the field to win the game each time. But that doesn’t scale. That doesn’t lead to increased results. You can only sell so much as one person. Creating a Culture of Ownership So, you need to have people on your team that are coming to you. What does that look like? The pinnacle is a salesperson who doesn’t close a deal, comes to you right away and asks for feedback. They want some critiques as to where they could have done things better, different that would have led to the desired result – a closed sale. That takes a healthy level of ego by a professional who has the ultimate growth mindset. They know there are always ways to improve. They want to improve. And they are willing to risk their ego (and the internal, protective, primal part of our brain that doesn’t want to risk our place in the tribe) by asking for feedback that could be negative. Whenever you can, encourage that type of response. Ensure that the team knows that the team itself, and you as their leader, is a safe space – where the goal is to improve, grow, win and that everything done to support each other is done in that mode. They truly have to feel safe to share their mistakes and to get support in learning how to do more, better. Feedback That Drives Growth Part of this takes team and individual meetings that are actually filled with positive support. That doesn’t mean it’s always positive, motivational fluff. It’s not even about the shallow strategy of the feedback sandwich. Its about being real, honest, and empathetic – meaning “I see you are here, I know you want to be there, I will help you get there – even if its hard and it means saying hard things.” It should never feel mean or abusive or like an attack. But you can give some really direct feedback that will sting that ego I mentioned, but the person will know the intent behind it. The second part is hiring this type of person. Hiring people for the team that wants to win, grow, succeed. And they know that you don’t get better by being coddled, sheltered, or protected. You want people who don’t like the thought of perpetually living safely in their comfort zone. And they are excited about the opportunity to be a part of a team that pushes everyone, empathetically, outside of their comfort zone. Are You Leading or Just Managing? If you find yourself as a leader having to push your team, or going to them most of the time, or most of the way mentally – then they see you as a manager not a leader. They see you as someone who manages them, pushes them, and wants them to do things they don’t want to do. I have written some blogs here that go into what your role should be – as a leader, not a manager. Pulling people along with you, inspiring people, and supporting yourself with a team of people who want to win. Not just those that want to show up, do as little as they can and hopefully go unnoticed (yet – complain about not making enough money and how the comp plan isn’t fair, or the leads are bad, or their schedule means they can’t be successful.) Make sure your team knows that they need to come to you – at least 51/49. They should be asking for help, guidance, training, feedback, and support more than you are having to push it down onto them.
By Jason Cutter February 3, 2025
If you have seen the movie Hitch, then you know the scene. Will Smith’s character (Hitch) is trying to coach Kevin James’ character (Albert) on how to finish out his upcoming first date. He is giving him pointers, one being that if his date fumbles with her keys at the door, it could mean she wants a kiss. So Hitch wants to see if Albert knows what to do – for a good night kiss. Hitch gives him the advice “you go 90 percent, and then wait for her to go 10%” which Albert then asks “wait for how long?” Hitch: “as long as it takes.” Albert leads in, Hitch is holding back to see if Albert will wait, and then Albert goes all the way and gives him a kiss. Hitch gets upset, and says “You go 90, I go 10 – you don’t go the whole 100%.” The Sales Analogy Kissing our prospective customers is not acceptable (just ask HR!). But the concept is the same. You don’t want to ever make 100% of the effort for your prospective customers. You don’t want to be the one who is doing all the work. Fundamentally, it is not good practice to want the deal more than the other person. When you go your 90, you need to wait – as long as it takes – for the prospect to go to their 10. And I would say that you want to go somewhere between 10-49, in reality. How Successful Sales Professionals Balance Effort Successful sales professionals know how far they have to go to meet the prospect where they are, while also knowing how much effort the prospect needs to put in to show they are committed. Where most salespeople get in trouble is they get desperate. They want the sale (kiss) more than the other person and they go the full 100%. Of course, persistence is important. And you won’t get what you don’t ask for (although…if you have followed me for any length of time, you will know I am very against having to ask for the sale). But you also have to ensure that your prospects actually want what you are selling. And they want it for their reasons and their motivations. They are driven to pursue your production option(s). They must go 10, 40, 60% of the way to you. The Pitfall of Chasing Your Prospect Just like courtship and relationships – if you find yourself chasing and one-sided-pursing the other person then it means you want it more than they do. It also means they own you. You are essentially begging them for the relationship – convincing, manipulating, begging, bribing, persuading your way forward. Which means they consciously and/or subconsciously know that they are in control. Because if they say no, you will keep pursuing and offering solutions. In sales – that looks like a salesperson who is calling, emailing, stalking a prospect – making offers, offering discounts and trials, and trying to find any way to make deal work. They are going 90-100% of the way for the prospect, not requiring them to go anywhere towards the agreement. This will end terribly. If they do decide to buy – taking the discount, free trial, taking the sale bait – they will not be happy (since they weren’t bought in for their reasons), they will look for reasons confirming why they didn’t really want to buy anyway, and they will know that they own you. Your company will have to convince them on a regular basis to stay in the relationship. The Right Balance for Customer Ownership You fundamentally need that prospective customer to come to you. Not 100% where you are just an Order Taker. But potentially 51% of the way – so they want it more than you. The more you can get them across that 50/50 threshold, the more they will be a satisfied customer. But remember – at 51/49 – they still need persuading, they still need to understand the value of your product for where they ultimately want to be in their life/business, and they still need your support. They lean in the right amount, you lean in the right amount = sales magic!
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