Lightening Round: Top 10 Ways to Use AI in Sales
Question: Eduardo from Cancun asks, “I am a small business owner—I manage luxury homes—and Sales Logic has given me some great tips to help me grow my business. As I look at 2025, what other ideas do you have for sales training for someone with a limited budget and limited time.”
Book: Spin Selling by Neil Rackman
Send your questions to Meridith and Mark at hello@saleslogicpodcast.com
Get amazing sales training and accountability at The Sales Logic Mastermind. Find out more here.
The follow transcript of this episode was generated by AI. Semantic errors may occur.
[00:00] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
Hey, this is Meredith Elliott Powell. You know what time it is. It is 8 am Eastern Saturday morning, my favorite time of the week time for a SalesLogic. What a difference a week makes. Last week we were in Costa Rica, nice and warm, and this week we’re both sitting here in snow.
[00:15] – Mark Hunter (Host)
Yeah, and you’re in the Carolinas and I’m in Texas. Snow. What went wrong? Something? We should have stayed in Costa Rica, that’s right. That’s right.
[00:34] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
All right, I am super excited about today’s show because I think it’s probably one of the most important topics to cover in sales. I always like to remind our guests Mark I was just on this morning with one of our listeners that when you have questions, you have concerns. That’s how we choose our topics here at SalesLogic Podcast, so go to saleslogicpodcastcom and send your questions to us. Now, mark, what is on tap for today?
[00:57] – Mark Hunter (Host)
We’re going to be talking about the powerful roles of mindset in sales, because I’ll tell you what sales is an emotional business and we’re going to unpack that. We got a great book and our lightning round is top 10 strategies to have better sales conversations and, believe me, that is emotionally driven. So hey, let’s kick it off. What are your thoughts? I know you got thoughts. I got thoughts. Role of mindset in sales.
[01:24] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
Yeah, well, I know you’ve got a lot of thoughts because you’ve written the book on the topic, but I have been thinking a lot about this lately the fact that so often in sales, we talk about strategy, we talk about behaviors, we talk about tools, we talk about techniques, but we don’t talk about the foundational piece of sales. None of that matters if you cannot get your mindset right, and really getting your mindset right is about believing that you can be successful in sales, and that determines your confidence, it determines your energy, it determines the way that people perceive you. So, mark, where I want to start with this, what I really thought is what if your mindset isn’t where it needs to be? And is that unusual in sales for it not to be where it needs to be?
[02:16] – Mark Hunter (Host)
Sadly, it’s not unusual because, again, we feel why is it that, like 65% of all, salespeople fail to make quota? It isn’t all driven because of mindset, but a big piece of it is driven by mindset because they fail to believe. You know, one of the things that we have to understand is that if you don’t believe in what you do, why would you ever expect a customer to believe in what you do? But here’s where it breaks down. Salespeople get so caught up in their product oh well, we just don’t have the best product out there. They play this comparison game, and I’ll tell you what.
[02:49]
You play the comparison game. It’s like scrolling through Facebook. Oh, that’s a depressing thought, you know. You scroll through Facebook and you see all these things about what other people are doing and you wish you could. You wish you could. And what happens is it puts you into a negative funk. You have to be extremely careful and you have to always realize that what you’re doing is not for your product, it’s for your customer. Your job is to help your customer. Focus on your customer, and I think it slowly begins to change your mindset.
[03:19] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
Yeah, I think that’s a great place. I think that’s a great place to start. You know it reminds me a little bit of the game of public speaking. People ask me all the time. They say how are you not nervous? Important places to go with mindset is to begin by asking yourself what Mark just said. Do you believe in your product and service and do you believe that your product and service is best? Because if you don’t believe that, you’re never going to be able to get your mindset right.
[03:58]
Just a really quick story there A million years ago, when I waited tables in South Carolina, I had somebody approach me to sell timeshare and everybody I knew who was selling timeshare was making so much money more money than I was making waiting tables and they said you’ve really got the personality for it, give it a try. And when I got there, what we were selling was really a bait and switch. We were not selling a product. I wouldn’t give up my vacation time to come tour that facility and I was terrible. I didn’t last 24 hours. Now, it wasn’t that I was bad at sales, it’s that I didn’t believe in the product or service.
[04:34] – Mark Hunter (Host)
You know that’s so key believing in the product. And this is where you got to change your attitude to sales is not something we do to people. Sales is something we do for people and you have to realize, because you’re doing it for their betterment, why? Because you want to help them see and achieve what they didn’t think was possible. I’ve talked about that a lot before. That’s very basic. But here’s a situation You’ve got to and I love Mike’s comment Mike, thank you for chiming in that you’ve got to ensure that you’re surrounded by people with a positive mindset. You’re right, because it’s amazing, we fuel off the people around us so critical, so key, and if you allow yourself to play in a negative mindset, chances are you’re going to allow yourself to play with negative people. You’ve got to make sure that every element around you is positive. That is what you’re reading, what you’re seeing, who you’re talking to, everything and again, it impacts our mindset.
[05:32] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
Yeah, I love what Natalie is saying here. Good morning, Natalie. Mindset is so key in believing your solution is serving the customer, achieve their results. So, like when you’re driven by a passion to help people, your mindset begins to just follow that belief. But I think that you know, Mark, I’m really struck by that statistic 65% of salespeople today don’t hit their quota 65%, and that is rooted in mindset. So I want to say, like, what are you doing to condition your mind first thing in the morning? I was listening to a podcast yesterday that had like unbelievably successful people, billionaire after billionaire after billionaire after billionaire, and one of the main things they had in common was they condition their mind first thing in the morning. They really work on getting the right messaging into their mind and I think that’s very important. If anybody listening to us you don’t have, I don’t do more than a 10-minute routine. It’s not a big deal, but I make sure that I feed my mind with things that are positive and positioning for me for what is possible first thing in the morning.
[06:43] – Mark Hunter (Host)
I can recall two times in my sales career One when I worked for a boss I did not like and I had a negative attitude for a number of different reasons, and the alarm would go off and I’d hit snooze, hit snooze, hit snooze, hit, snooze, and it was almost a game of how many times I could hit snooze because I was in no rush to get up, I mean, and I literally stumbled through the day, I remember, just like a boss.
[07:07]
Later, my next boss I had was one I loved and I’ll tell you what I was excited to get up in the morning. I was pumped. Why? Because the second boss framed everything in a positive manner and he challenged us, just as you said, to start the day off in a positive manner. If we don’t take a few minutes to be thankful and express gratitude in our own mind of those who have helped us, those who have, you know, those we’ve been able to help and everything that we’ve got going on, it is absolutely amazing how it will mess up your day, start the day right, and it’s amazing how much better the day goes. And it’s amazing at how much better the day goes.
[07:46] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
Yeah, and I love that you said make the time for it. You know, often you don’t think you have the time for it, but you do. I love what John is saying here. John Wong, thanks for always chiming in.
[07:56]
Successful salespeople have identified a mechanism to self-analyze ensure they have a process to pull themselves out of any funk. So true, because you are going to get into a funk. I will tell you one of my favorites. I just had this yesterday and I was figuring out how to write a blog on it. I had kind of a not yesterday, but day before.
[08:14]
Just things didn’t go right and the very first thing I do is change my physical state. I go for a walk, I go play tennis. I get my body moving because where I was that physical state, I’ve got to change it. If you change your, your movement, you’ll change your energy. I also find from changing my movement going for a walk or a hike or going to play tennis it frees my implemented this morning three of those ideas that I came up with when I went for a hike the other day. That is that it is. I’m hitting a wall. The way to get out of that funk is to find new ways to get around that wall, and I can’t do that if I don’t do what John says here, have a process to pull myself out.
[09:01] – Mark Hunter (Host)
And John also adds in that small bites and a process, and that’s so key. Yesterday I was kind of Kind of same thing. Morning went well, great, great, great, and the afternoon I was just getting tired. And for some reason I was tired. I was like and I said, no, just make one phone call. And that one phone call jazzed me. And one more phone call, one more phone call and before I knew it I had reached out to a number of prospects that I really had not even planned to reach out to. But it was small bites, small process, and you begin to achieve results. This is so absolutely critical. Natalie brings up.
[09:37]
Meditation is so important. It sets our mind up for success as spot on. It is absolutely true. You got to take time to kind of self-reflect and along with that you know it’s so easy because when we take that time, are we focused short-term or long-term? When we take that time, are we focused short term or long term? Successful people, those with the right mindset, are always playing long game. It’s it’s a long game mindset. There may be short term problems, but you know what we’re going to power past them. And so it’s so interesting between negative people and positive people. So many problems. Positive people, those with a great mindset, have problems but they realize the problems they have are going to be totally irrelevant a month or two from now, or a week or two or even a day or two from now, and they just get through it. Get through it the mindset that the person who’s having a problem with their mindset. They struggle, they lament, they never get around to solving it and, as a result, it stays with them forever.
[10:31] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
Yeah, it’s so true. You know, I love that. I heard something about pessimists and optimists the other day and it said that pessimists actually are more accurate about their performance. They’re like when they look at it. That was probably more valid. But optimists are more successful because they don’t think it is as bad as it actually, as it actually is. So it, so it, you know, so it keeps you, it keeps you going forward. I love what you said here, andrea. I could not agree more. So true, new ideas come from new environments.
[11:05]
Probably one of the most important things I do to to to work on my mindset is to shift physically what I, what I am doing. If I sit at my desk all day and things, I’m having one of those days where things are not going well, which is to be expected, right? I mean, I think if you probably look at the sales arena and you talk to anybody who’s been successful in sales or in business, they have been. They have lost far more than they have won. It’s probably that in sports, I mean, don’t they say that I’m way out of my element here, but they say that about basketball players and things like that, and baseball players, I mean they strike out far more than they hit the home run, but it is about shifting your environment and focusing on what is positive.
[11:48] – Mark Hunter (Host)
But you know what? I’m going to bring it back to you, because you play a lot of tennis, yeah, and I’m sure there’s some tennis courts that you walk onto and you go, wow, this is really cool, and the environment and everything. And what does it do? It jazzes you, it takes your game to the next level. Last weekend, you myself, our spouses and a few others spent the weekend in Costa Rica really diving into our businesses and it was amazing the conversations we had diving into our businesses and it was amazing the conversations we had. And could we have had them on Zoom? I don’t think so, because we were able to connect and go deeper with our conversations and strategize in ways that, because we changed our environment. That’s what’s applicable. You got to be prepared to change your environment in one way or another.
[12:28] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
Yeah, I love Dave Sanderson always has such great comments here. Many salespeople take a position to have a job, not a career. Sales is a mindset. Focus equals feeling. That is incredibly powerful. People Write that down Focus equals feeling. I mean I’m working on a book right now called Perception, because what you perceive is your reality. I mean there is constant opportunity around you and constant failure around you and whatever you focus on is what you are going to get. That sounds so simple as it is. It’s just not easy.
[13:02] – Mark Hunter (Host)
It’s one of the reasons why I love to say your mindset going into a sales call predetermines the results you get coming out of it. Believe me, it is absolutely powerful. I can go into a sales call that I think. Hey, I’m going to pull this off. This is especially true with prospecting. Yesterday I was reaching out to some prospects that they’ve gotten cold, and I’ve reached out to them many, many times. But you know what I believe? I believe in them and I’m going to make sure that I stay in the game with them because I believe in the solution. I’m going to be able to help them. Hey, bill, you’re saying, mark, it’s OK to take a nap. Come on, come on, bill, not during the day, not during selling hours. Come on, man.
[13:46] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
Hey, mark. What’s the question for today?
[13:49] – Mark Hunter (Host)
The question for all, the question for today? You’re right, we haven’t even gotten to it. It comes from Ronaldo. In Seattle, I manage a large sales team and we’re growing, adding 10 new reps this year. My team seems to be getting younger and younger and while we are successful, we deal with a lot of rejection in our industry. How can I help them build resilience and build the right mindset to achieve success in sales? So I threw that into the sales logic brain, which, hey, if you’re not part of the mastermind, the sales logic mastermind you don’t get access to the brain. So join the mastermind. Here’s a couple of things that it came back with. What we’ve been talking about, it’s the mindset shift. It’s celebrating small wins, and this is so key. Regardless what your day is, celebrate it. And one that I love here, and that is accountability partners. You’ve got to have people that you’re accountable to, because sales is not a solo activity. Sales is a team sport, and I love, and I love that. Anyway, I’m sure you’ve got some more thoughts to help Ronaldo.
[14:50] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
Yeah. So I love this. Here you are, you’ve got a young, you’ve got a young sales team and you’re in an industry that is just working with a client about a week ago. They’ve got a very long sales cycle and very long sales cycles. That’s like running a marathon. It is painful and staying motivated through it is really, really difficult.
[15:09]
So, number one every single time that you have a sales meeting, you need to work on giving this team some understanding of others that have overcome big obstacles. If I were running your sales team, we would do a three minute video every time we started of somebody who has reached unbelievable heights but has gone 20 steps back before they have ever reached that. If you are home listening to us and you are a single operation dealing with a lot of rejection, condition your mind with those types of thoughts. The other is you need to. What Mark said that came out of the brain is celebrating small wins. Every time they get a meeting, talk about it. Every time they have a good conversation, every time they get to proposal mode, talk about it, learn from it, analyze it and don’t as much celebrate the result as much as you celebrate the right behavior, the movement in the right direction.
[16:11] – Mark Hunter (Host)
That is so key. I tell this to both new salespeople and people in long sales cycle. It’s so easy because you want to put points on the board, you want to close the deal, but wow, they’re just so. I can’t get there, can’t get there. So that’s where you celebrate the small wins, it’s the activities. It’s the activities that you’re doing.
[16:30]
Hey, I was able to make X number of phone calls. I was able to have a conversation with this person. I was able to do some, celebrate the small activities and that’s going to power you forward. And what does that mean? Many times it means setting small goals. Here’s my hourly goal. That’s what I actually had to do yesterday when I said that you know I was tired and I said I’m going to make a call and then make it. And then it’s like wait a minute, I’m going to make five more calls. And I just set a small goal to make five more calls. And I made those five calls and I felt a whole lot more positive about myself with each call I made, because I was getting closer to that very small goal. We can get depressed when we look at the annual number. We can get depressed when we look at something big out there. How am I going to get there? You’re going to get there through one step at a time.
[17:24] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
Yeah, so true. Bill King gives great advice here with my sales team. It helps to outline the number of calls to pre-screens, to proposal sales ratios. I think this helps them see that it takes a lot of nose to get a deal done. So true, I mean, bill, that’s what you and I are talking about, is really focusing on those behaviors. The other thing, too, that’s what you and I are talking about, is really focusing on those behaviors.
[17:44]
The other thing to Ronaldo if you can give them a small win, if you can find some low hanging fruit, it’s really fascinating when the, when the military wanted to increase the number of people succeeding in their, in their shooting training, they actually just moved the target closer. You know, they took it from where it naturally was and where it most likely would be and move it closer, because when people hit the bullseye easily, they believed they could do it. That’s how powerful mindset is. So if you can have some of those, you know, some of those small, those small wins, it’s really important and John team needs to believe that mindset plus process plus repeatability equals success. I love those and that is the order to get them in right.
[18:28] – Mark Hunter (Host)
I’ll tell you what such great, great comments that are coming in from everybody out there. Here’s something we’re going to say what’s in your pipeline? New salespeople and those with long sales process it’s easy for them to go after the whales we’re going to have to. I’re going to sit. What’s in your pipeline? New salespeople and those with long sales process it’s easy for them to go after the whales we’re going to. We’re going to have to. I’m going to come in and I’m going to close this whale. But the problem is you starve to death waiting to close the whale. You’ve got to make sure, go back to your thing where they, where they move the target closer and what it did help them achieve success Small wins that you can have. Here’s a small customer that you can close the deal. There’s just something psychological about that there’s and what does it do? It drives your mindset. So you’ve got to be able to have that balance in your pipeline, Otherwise you’re going to get absolutely depressed because it just isn’t going to happen.
[19:16] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
Yeah, so great, great, great, so great support of the comment I made. Mike, you’re in a peer advisory group. In each meeting, the coach shows a video of someone doing great things despite significant challenges. It makes the work I do running a business look easy. Something I’m going to say alongside of that, ronaldo, that may work for you is it’s bringing some of the top salespeople in the company, people who’ve really made it, and if they’re willing to share their story, what you’re going to hear is they started in a really tough place. They didn’t have wins coming right out of the gate, and helping people see that what they’re doing is going to create success is really important. The last thing I’m going to say to you, ronaldo, and to anybody listening to us today even if you’re an individual, understand that you are a coach in this arena. You’ve got to be around people who keep you going and keep you moving forward. Anything that you’re going to achieve that is great is not easy to achieve. If it was, everybody would achieve it.
[20:17] – Mark Hunter (Host)
Yeah, you can’t afford to hang out with negative people. You can’t afford it, and this means there may be some friends in your circle that you’ve got to cut loose. And what I always say is identify five people that you aspire to be. Now, these may be five people that you know, or they may be just five people online, or they’re authors of books or they have videos, where that’s fine, but you want to aspire and channel yourself to be like them. Because I’ll tell you what it is amazing when you begin to take on that mindset. It is amazing at how it does change you.
[20:53]
I want to go back to something that you said, in terms of negative, people are more in terms of realists. And you said in terms of negative people are more in terms of realists, and you’re right, because they lower their sights so low that they can’t help but achieve it. You know the pessimist they can’t help but achieve it. And the optimist you know what was it? You know, like I’m going to shoot for the stars. Even if I hit the stars, at least I’ll hit the moon, and that’s the thing that those with the right mindset they play a big enough game that they’re out there and they just push themselves to that next level.
[21:26] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
Yeah, so such good stuff. Yeah, we do need to talk about the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. Such a great comment, adam. I mean fixed, is you believe you have hit your potential Growth is there’s nothing better to me Like? If you look at my ideal customer profile, it is the CEO with a growth mindset. I was on with one yesterday. What he has done, they have grown 60% a year for the last three years and he keeps going. He’s so open to learn and grow and new ideas and such vulnerability. I mean that’s really a growth, truly a growth mindset.
[22:02] – Mark Hunter (Host)
Well, the growth mindset. Like you said, because you have customers like that, you’ve got to find people who are in that same mindset. And again, I always go back and I channel Charlie Munger. He’s passed away now but he was reading major in-depth books well into his 90s. Why? Because he felt he had more knowledge to learn. You never stop learning. It is amazing you and I were talking about this. It is amazing how you see active people well into their 70s, 80s, 90s and they’re active because they’re mentally engaged, they are running hard and there’s something about that because the mindset drives the physical body, it drives everything out there.
[22:45] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
Yeah, natalie, I love your quote here from Insanity Max 30. Every time I feel I can’t do one more, I do three. So true, just pushing that little inch. And John, we could not agree more. If you want a positive mindset with your sales team, introduce them to SalesLogic and, more importantly, the SalesLogic mastermind, mark. We better run on to the book and run on to the this has been an awesome show.
[23:12] – Mark Hunter (Host)
It has been a great show. Great comment, because you can tell this is hitting home. The book yes, it’s a book. I wrote A Mind for Sales and I’ll tell you what. I never set out to write this book because I had written several books before and people said I just can’t. I just can’t do what you’re saying and I say because it’s your mindset. So in the book I unpacked my journey in sales because, believe me, it didn’t start out the way people would think it did, but it was because I changed my mindset and worked my way through there. So there’s a number of strategies in there and also strategies as to how to create that accountability group, how to find those right people to hang out with. That’s why we do recommend joining SalesLogic Mastermind.
[23:49] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
You know, Mark, what I love about this book A Mind for Sales is I think you are doing for salespeople something that their sales leaders don’t do. In all the, all the years I worked in corporate and all the years I worked in a small business and was a member of a sales team, I never, ever recall my sales leader ever talking to me about, about sales mindset. It was always about making more calls, it was always about taking a class to learn a technique all important but I struggled with mindset for years and for beliefs, and I really I love that your story is in here, because looking at how successful and how easy sales is for you today, you wouldn’t believe the story that Mark tells in there. So such a great book and Natalie says she loves this book and it’s on her desk. It should be on everybody’s desk.
[24:38] – Mark Hunter (Host)
Hey, with that we got to jump into the lightning round. Are you ready?
[24:42] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
I am.
[24:42] – Mark Hunter (Host)
Top 10 strategies to have better sales conversations.
[24:47] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
Number one go in with curiosity. If you want to have a better sales conversation, go in there with just really, really wanting to learn.
[24:55] – Mark Hunter (Host)
Number two shut up.
[25:05] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
Number three follow the customer’s lead. Build rapport if they want to build rapport. Get to the point, if they want to get to the point.
[25:10] – Mark Hunter (Host)
Number four ask questions on what they share with you. Show interest.
[25:14] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
Number five you better have done your homework in there. Go in there ready to have an intelligent conversation.
[25:20] – Mark Hunter (Host)
Number six bring up in the current conversations comments that they made in a previous conversation and ask questions on it.
[25:29] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
Yeah, mark, I’m going to go a little bit with yours on on shutting up, and that is just to be comfortable in in the silence, because I think the important thing about having a good conversation is being present.
[25:42] – Mark Hunter (Host)
Wow, you just stole that from me because that was going to be the next one. Yeah, be present. Don’t have other stuff on your desk. Don’t have other things that you’re looking at, other things that you’re looking at. Be present with the. We were talking about that in our mastermind meeting, about an individual who we know, who is always in the moment present with whoever it is that they’re speaking with, and it makes for powerful conversations.
[26:03] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
Yeah, I would say number nine. Set clear next steps. Be ready to talk about what the action is first that you’re going to take and what, if anything, you need them to do.
[26:15] – Mark Hunter (Host)
Number 10, take notes. Take notes so you don’t lose sight of the great ideas and comments and whatever it is that the customer shares. Hey, great conversation this morning. You know we got coming up in a couple of weeks We’ll put it in the show notes Our sales logic expert exchange with Sherry Leviton, and that happens the fourth Monday of each month. Each month we have an expert and, of course, so many other things in the SalesLogic Mastermind. Anyway, with that, we want to say thank you for listening to SalesLogic this week. If you like what you hear, subscribe, rate and review the show on your favorite podcast app. Something we’ve said has earned you a single dollar. Consider telling a friend about our show, because it’s how we grow, when we help you grow. I’m Mark Hunter.
[26:59] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
And I’m Meredith Elliott Powell. Remember when you sell with confidence and integrity all of this uncertainty suddenly becomes your competitive advantage.
[27:07] – Mark Hunter (Host)
And the sale becomes logical.
[27:09] – Meridith Elliott Powell (Host)
All right, mark your calendars the 27th four o’clock. You do not want to miss Sherry Levitin. She is going to dive in to storytelling. And if you want to rock your sales goal this year, if you want to get out of that 65% not hitting quota, join the Sales Logic Mastermind. We are dedicated to helping one another be successful. Learn the skills you need to know. Just go to saleslogicpodcastcom. We’ll take it from there. We’ll see you next week. Bye.