I recently read the book ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’ by Tim Gallwey. It had been on my list for a while. It wasn’t just to improve my tennis game, it was to see what the principles were about. To understand what nuggets were in this book that’s been around for 30+ years yet still holds true. I wasn’t disappointed.

Around the time of reading it, and posting some insights from it, Jeffrey Lipsius connected in. He’s been using the approaches from the book not just for improving his Tennis game but to become a better sales person. He’s been so successful with this that he’s wrote a book about it, and set up his own program to teach others how to be an Inner game Sales expert. He’s been working with Tim on this over the last few years and it continues to gain momentum.

In this episode, we cover a lot. Here is a summary of the points discussed. Listen to the full show for more details.

•Who is Jeffery Lipsius
•Career journey – started this journey as a tennis player in college
•How the Inner Game of Tennis became a focus for Jeff
•Deep Dive into the key concepts from the book including:
oSelf 1 v Self 2
oConscious and Unconscious self
oNatural Learning
oNon-judgement
oLetting go v trying hard
oSelf-fulfilling prophecies
oSelf-talk and judgement
•Story of Jack in the book – Natural Learning….just observing what they were doing wrong…visualizing it and direct experience of it – feeling different so it must be new – if it didn’t it was the same!
•The Inner game are:
•Trust Thyself…
•How to communicate with Self 2
1.Ask for Results
2.Asking for Form
3.Asking for Qualities
•Trusting Self 2 – How to?
•Focusing on the seams of the ball to enhance the observation and focus
•Techniques & Habits
oThe Groove Theory of Habits
•The usual way of learning v the inner game way
•Mindfulness without ever saying it
•Applying this to Sales?
oWalking back through
oPreparing for the sales pitch/event/call
oGut feeling?
oNot over trying
•Applying it to anything
•Tools – visualization (never called it)
•Childlike approach
ohow do you get this
oWhen pressure is involved
•What is Self 1 saying when selling?
•Sales and Competition – Targets are key!
•Applying this to Sales
oConversation 1 = self 1 – how a sales person goes on with
oConversation 2 = the conversation going on in between the customers ears!
oConversation 2 is the most important one
•Biggest insights came from a sale that Jeff lost – he told the customer something he didn’t want to hear!
•Self 2 doesn’t respond to language
•How do you learn the customers language – through observation and asking questions?
•Tools and approaches to interact with self 2
oSetting the right environment
oA salesperson is the customer’s decision coach!
oCommit to learning and see there are 2 conversations going with a customer
oDoing your research on the individual – LinkedIn, online, etc
oAsk Questions of the client – what is their decision trajectory?
oThe goal of selling is buying – but the customer might have a buying goal?
•If the customer is not self-aware, they can’t know what needs they have – help the customer become more self-aware
•How do you work with a customer to become more self-aware?
oAsk more questions! These are the best tools salespeople have!
•The Coach doesn’t need control – you are asking questions to give the customer this control!
•The two sides of Trust – Outer and Inner trust
oOuter trust – customer trusting the salesperson
oInner trust – salesperson trusting themselves
oInner trust comes first!!!
•The Sales Person needs to have self-trust
•The downsides of being a pushy salesperson
•Positive Thinking & Positive Psychology?
•Question from LinkedIn – Future of Coaching?
•Jeffrey’s book is a story and a narrative
oLink to the book
•How to develop self-awareness – practice mindfulness and meditation
•Meditation helps require less approval from personal values
•Focus, attachment, letting go are covered in The Inner Game but not explicitly called out.
•How quickly have salespeople improved from taking the course – typically after one month this happen – feedback is important and getting support is key
•The formulae for performance which P = P – I
oPerformance = Potential – Interference
•Thoughts on the future of coaching
•Connect in with Jeff
owww.theinnergame.com – the inner game of selling
oJeffery.Lipsius@gmail.com
•Selling to the Point is on Amazon HERE