A few weeks ago I was hosting one of our Break Free Academy events in Dallas and the guest speaker was Hoss Pratt. Hoss had a presentation he was putting on for the first time. In one of the segments he talked about how he had a “dialer glove” he would wear while dialing numbers making phone calls. 

Now me, being the smartass I am, I asked him if he was trying to keep his dial hand soft and protected from all those plastic numbers. He said that when he put the glove on, it anchored him to go from Hoss to “Hoss the listing Boss” that glove changed his state of mind. 

That’s when it hit me.

We all know sales is a mindset game. If you’re in a bad mood, there’s no way you’re closing deals. You can’t show up in person or on the phone with a ho-hum attitude. You gotta be turnt and lit up when you sell to prospects. You’ve got to create a massive amount of contagious energy. Without it, you’ll just be another boring-ass salesman. 

This is how the moniker “Hardcore Closer” came about. Normally, I’m a pretty laid back dude, but when it comes time to make some sales I turn into the Hardcore Closer like Clark Kent does to Superman. In my corporate life, when I was needed to go in and close the other salesmen would say “Stewman, we need the closer” and I just became the closer. 

Let’s be real for a minute here. Sales is a tough racket. WE have our ups and downs with money. We gotta be ON at all times in order to close, yet we sometimes leave the house fighting with kids and our wife just like everyone else. When Harold the HR manager gets to the office in a bad mood, it doesn’t matter. A salesman in a bad mood can lose a lot of money. 

When you change your state, you change your outcome

To get in a selling state of mind, you need an anchor. What’s an anchor? The first time I had formally heard the term “anchor” explained it was by Tony Robbins in his Personal Power program. An anchor is a movement you can link to a thought. Our behavior is controlled by anchors. For example you anchor smoking to feeling good, even though it makes you feel bad and is unhealthy. 

You can use anchoring to your advantage in sales. Just like Hoss anchored the golf glove and I anchored the word “closer” you can anchor yourself into the sales state of mind. 

If you’re gonna close sales you gotta bring it. You gotta show up at 100%. As my old GM Fortunes O’neil used to say “sunshine” meaning it was time to be bright eyed and bushy tailed. You gotta be on your game and bring that contagious energy to the prospect to get them interested and build their desire to buy.

Getting in the “sunshine” state of mind is not always easy. This is why anchoring is so important. When you’re in a bad mood, fighting at home, pissed at the boss or anything else, you need an anchor that will change your state of mine and ultimately change your prospect’s mind!

Here’s my advice on creating that anchor. If you work behind the scenes, something like a hat, glove, or even ear piece. For me, when I put my ear piece on, it’s CLOSER time. For 50 times in a row, put the item on, then hop up, feel good, be 100% alert and force a smile on your face. Do this at least 50 times before you start calling, emailing or any of that. Each day before you hit the prospects up, do this 50 times and get yourself into the state. Before long, you’ll be anchored and when you put the hat on, it will just be game time. 

If you work face-to-face, gloves and hats might make things weird. Instead I propose that you come up with a phrase that you anchor. When I sold cars and an up walked in, I’d tell myself “They want a car Ryan” and my state was altered. I’d get a big smile, goosebumps and be energetic AF no matter what mood I was in. You need a go-to phrase that turns you on. Once you figure the phrase out, sit down and say it out loud, then hop up, smile, be energetic and 100% present. Practice this 50 times in a row for a week before you start selling each day. 

You mind is a powerful thing. It can ruin you or it can make you a champion. You have to control it and anchoring states is just one of the powerful ways you can control your brain. Stop letting at home distractions and a everything else come in between you and closing more sales. Get your anchor down and change your state of mind. Because when you change your mind, you change your life. 

On a side note, I’m looking to help people like you, the type of person to read this article. I’d like to help you make more money via sales and parlay that commission cash into long term wealth. I’ve got a mastermind dedicated to everything you need to own complete success in your life. It’s more than sales, it’s business mastery. Join us at www.breakfreeacademy.com/entourage