Life and my passions constantly connect and teach me new lessons everyday. Here is the next one – Yoga, which has brought a new perspective into my Life.
Sales and Yoga – never the twain shall meet is what I thought. But that soon changed as I looked at how Yoga adds to my Sales learnings.
1. It is all about alignment
Yoga teaches us about alignment between the mind and the body. When your mind and body are not in alignment, you find it difficult to move forward and manifest your dreams.
Similarly, when the sales process is not aligned with the buyer’s journey, the salesperson will find it difficult to move forward and close the deal.
2. Balance brings harmony
Not making enough use of certain parts of the body causes imbalance and misalignment. The correct practice of yoga, combined with right lifestyle, can restore the balance and harmony at all levels of your being.
In Sales, finding the right balance between the customers pain points and your product’s benefits helps in customizing your pitch to lead to sales success.
3. Be flexible, be agile
Yoga poses stretch your muscles and increase your range of motion. With regular practice, they improve your flexibility.
In Sales, being flexible and adaptive facilitates changing your sales strategy according to the buyer's behavior and sales situation. It helps in understanding the customer better and selling in the way she wants to buy, thereby increasing the trust factor in the interaction.
4. Control your breath to manage your emotions
Deep breathing in Yoga helps in reducing stress and improving the concentration. Yoga brings awareness and control to our breath patterns, allowing us to notice when our emotions are affecting our breath, and using the breath to calm our emotions.
For a salesperson, deep breathing before any important engagement, be it a presentation to the client’s management team or an internal review, helps to calm the nerves. It reduces anxiety, improves focus, and enables him/her to remain anchored in the present. Having the ability to stay composed even in the most challenging sales situations, gives you that extra edge over others. So, breathe, stay calm and remain in control of the sales process.
5. A way of Life
You can use the principles of Yoga in your everyday life. Balance, alignment, focus, harmony, and concentration. No fancy equipment or heavy weights! All you need to do is block out all external distractions, be fully present in the moment, and go with the flow.
Sales is very much the same. All you need to do is to shut out the voices that distract you and tell you that “You can’t do it”’ Block out the naysayers and get into the flow. It is up to you to keep practicing and keep growing as a salesperson. Up to you to shine brighter and never quit.
"Yoga is a light, which once lit will never dim. The better you practice, the brighter the flame.” - BKS Iyengar