How Self-Awareness in Sales Transforms Your Approach

Sales is very much a forward-looking profession, whether that is a new quota goal for the sales year, or helping a client look forward in their business.

What I’ve learned through working with my clients and with my own experience as a seller is that there’s a helpful skill that requires us to look back instead of forward: self-awareness.

In all of the years I’ve been writing this blog (since 2007), my post on self-leadership is the #1 most-read blog on the site. Self-awareness is closely related to self-leadership, but has some distinct differences.

What is Self-Awareness in Sales, and How Is It Different from Self-Leadership?

Self-awareness is the inward process of understanding how your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors impact your actions, and therefore, your results. Self-leadership is a combination of outward behaviors, telling clients and prospects that you’re the right choice for them. Combined, these approaches will significantly improve your sales success.

Reflection is the Key to Self-Awareness

Reflection is an activity that improves self-awareness. It’s the practice of taking time to review an interaction from your perspective, potentially seeking the input of another, and distilling what you’ve learned. That practice is what will cement the learning for future, so it’s not simply an automated action but a practiced habit.

What are some specific actions you can take with self-awareness in sales?

1. Revisit Sales Conversations

After every sales conversation, take 10 minutes to review it. If you’re a sales manager, these questions can be used with your team.

• Did you get the outcome you were looking for?
• Where did you feel confident?
• Where did you lack confidence?
• Do you have a next step?

By identifying both your strengths and weaknesses, you begin to see patterns. You can then decide if that pattern is productive, or if it needs to be adjusted. Maybe you consistently struggle when discussing value because you get stuck on price, or perhaps a client raises a concern you didn’t feel confident in addressing. When you raise your self-awareness of these patterns, you can shape your next steps.

2. Tune Into Emotional Sales Cues

High-level sales discussions are between people (not typically between bots), which means that there is a human element to them. How you feel during a conversation often mirrors how your prospect feels. Were you nervous? Did you sense tension or excitement from the other side?

Similarly, when you’re in the buyer’s seat, how you buy is often how you sell. Your self-awareness of your own buying habits and how they may get projected onto a customer’s process is worth analyzing.

Understanding your emotional triggers helps you recognize when you might unintentionally project stress, impatience, or distraction. Leading the sales process with your clients entails keeping an even emotional pace. The more you can manage your emotions, the better you can create an environment of trust and collaboration.

3. Solicit Trusted Input

Sometimes, we need an outside perspective. Ask a trusted colleague, manager, or client for input on your approach. A simple question like, “What’s one thing I could improve in our next meeting?” can uncover blind spots and spark new ideas. One caveat here is to be selective when eliciting input. Not all input is useful or necessary, and too much of a good thing can cloud your level of self-trust.

Additional Strategies to Improve Your Sales Approach

With self-awareness as your foundation, these additional strategies can improve your sales approach.

1. It’s Your Job to Adapt Your Communication Approach

I will sometimes get clients who push back on this by saying that they shouldn’t have to change the essence of who they are to be successful in sales. I agree with that. Adapting our communication approach isn’t about changing who we are; it’s about helping the client or prospect to receive our message in a way that helps them to best respond. Not every client responds to the same tone, pace, or approach.

Use what you uncover about yourself to understand what resonates best and where you need to adapt. For example, some prospects appreciate detailed explanations, while others value brevity and big-picture thinking. It’s your job to tailor your communication approach to meet them where they are.

2. Role-Play Tough Scenarios

Most professional sellers have a love-hate relationship with role-play. But it is the most effective and realistic way to practice situations without pressure. This may be one of those things you need to simply accept as part of sales success if you’re going to be your best.

If your reflection highlights recurring challenges—like handling objections or addressing complex questions—practice them with someone who will role-play it realistically. Role-playing with a peer or mentor helps you refine your responses and build confidence. Trust me, you will be far more nervous role-playing with a peer than you will be in front of a prospect!

3. Set Intentional Goals

Before every sales interaction, I clear my mind and then set an intention. For me, it’s always what is the next step (strategic), and then what can I do to improve the moment (tactical). For you, it may be active listening and taking great notes or asking a thought-provoking question to encourage the prospect to think differently. A clear focus helps you stay present and aligned with your client’s priorities.

Building a Habit of Growth

A habit is an action you formulate over time that ultimately becomes something you don’t even think about. In my experience, the two levers of habit are environment and productive behavior.

You can begin today without any special preparation. Look at today’s calendar and take five minutes to reflect on your sales conversation. What is one thing you learned? What is one thing you will repeat? What is one thing you will improve?

Sales mastery is about continual progress. Elite sales professionals and leaders use self-awareness as their compass.

There’s no time like now to downloading this free sales self-awareness guide: 10 Impactful Questions to Jumpstart Your New Year.

New Year, New Sales Energy!

This is the perfect time to refocus, reenergize, and equip your team with the tools they need to succeed. If you’re looking to improve sales growth, uplevel your team with sales training, or you’re planning a sales kickoff, contact me for a conversation.