The Inner and Outer Game of Network Marketing – Part 2

The Outer Game of Sales

There are three components to the outer game- strategy and process, personal network, and productivity.

1) Strategy and Process

What does your ideal customer look like? What is your prospecting strategy? How do you acquire highly qualified leads? How do you close a deal faster? How do you overcome objections? How do you mentor and motivate your team?

This is the nitty-gritty of sales. It's the trade secrets that professionals swap when they're bragging about their week's victories at happy hour. And it's the plan of attack that sales managers write up and hand off to their team.

Your strategy spells out exactly what you should be doing and in what order. Smart sales strategies have a solid reason behind every step that brings you nearer to a close. This is critical to mastering the outer game of sales.

2) Personal Network

We usually prefer to buy from people we know. Network marketing salespeople should constantly look for opportunities to expand their network, either through networking events or through old-fashioned outreach. Every seasoned professional tells the story of how a casual connection led to a big deal. A strong network of top players in your field or profession (inside or outside your company) will increase the number of opportunities that come your way.

3) Productivity

I believe it's misleading to say that sales is a "numbers game." It discounts the significant intellectual work that goes into forming a strategy that brings in sales at a predictable rate.

At the same time, the volume of work you do counts. Time is the great equalizer. Everyone gets 24 hours in a day. And if you can figure out how to maximize your time to send the most effective emails, make the most effective calls, and do better research, you're going to be more successful. That might mean putting in more hours, or discovering ways to work smarter. The fact remains that your ability to get things done matters.

To win the outer game, you must first win the inner game.

Your best performances originate from inside you. Yet salespeople create mental barriers, or get in their own way, which can hinder their performance.

7 Ways Salespeople Block Themselves

1. Trying too hard.

2. Attempting to micro-manage.

3. Self-instruction during their performance.

4. Negative thoughts, mental images, or beliefs.

5. Preconceived notions and self-limiting beliefs.

6. Lack of self-trust.

7. A busy mind.

2 Major Skills of the Inner Game of Selling

1. Quieting the Mind-When your mind is calm and quiet, your focus is in the present. All good performances unfold when your mind is in the present, not the past or the future.

2. Letting It Happen-Performances that are forced are not as powerful as ones that are allowed to spontaneously blossom. "Letting it happen" means to relax and simply do what you know you can do while enjoying the process. Attempting to micro-manage and over-control the situation results in a stilted, stiff, lifeless performance. What is the trigger for letting it happen? Trust and confidence in yourself.

How Do Sales Performances Happen Naturally?

To let a great selling performance happen, you need the proper sales skills foundation. If you have not spent time learning, training, planning and practicing, you won't achieve the proper execution in your performance. Once you have a firm selling skills foundation, the performance magic can happen.

Putting It All Together

Salespeople who really succeed are those who put all these pieces together. First, you take a business partner with strong goals, high emotional intelligence, and comprehensive industry knowledge. Then you add in a rock solid strategy, a powerful network, and an indomitable work ethic. Add them all up, and you have an unbeatable recipe for success.

https://networkingtimes.com/blog/2016/06/19/the-inner-and-outer-game-of-network-marketing-part-2/