In sales, self-limiting beliefs prevent salespeople and sales managers from executing on skills that support the sales process. Let’s explore an example based on the common limiting self-belief that:
“The value of our product doesn’t matter—you all know it always comes down to price. Our prices are higher than the competition so we’ll never win. At the end of the day, customers always decide based on price!”
This salesperson has made an incorrect, generalized assumption about all of their current and potential clients, but they believe it to be true. They fail to act advantageously from the outset because they’re already sure that they don’t have any personal power to influence the sale.
What are self-limiting beliefs?
Self-limiting beliefs are negative thoughts (often verbalized and regularly repeated to oneself and others) that talk you out of doing something advantageous or necessary to your success. Customer service, productivity, morale, and mindset are all compromised when self-limiting beliefs go unchecked.
What is the negative impact of a self-limiting belief?
Such a belief is strong enough to limit performance in several ways: Based on their assumption, the salesperson may skip essential steps in the sales process, such as asking tough, timely questions. As a result, they won’t discover new opportunities to grow accounts or present valuable solutions to clients. They unwittingly waste good leads, time, and company resources in the process. Indeed, if the client is unhappy with the service provided, the company reputation may be at risk.