About Umar Hameed: Umar Hameed aka Mr. Breakthrough is the CEO of No Limits Selling, a professional training and coaching company that specializes in improving the sales performance of realtors and other sales professionals. They use the latest insights from neuroscience and NLP to help realtors break through their limitations and perform at a higher level. Umar is a keynote speaker, an author, and a Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) performance coach. Umar distinguishes himself from other consultants and trainers with his extensive track record and diverse skill set. With over 25 years of experience as a successful business and sales consultant, coupled with more than 13 years of expertise in utilizing Neuroscience, NLP, and Hypnosis to effect behavioral changes, Umar brings a unique perspective to his work. Renowned as a keynote speaker at conferences held in 14 countries, he shares his insights and knowledge with audiences worldwide. Additionally, Umar is an accomplished author, having penned three books, including the acclaimed “Unleash Your Crazy Sexy Brain!”. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Umar.
In this episode, Nancy and Umar discuss the following:
- Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and its role in sales training
- The concept of mindset and its significance in sales success
- The reasons why some salespeople fail to reach their potential
- The importance of discovering one’s authentic self in sales
- The role of fear and childhood experiences in shaping behavior
- The use of hypnosis to overcome mental barriers in sales
- Strategies for building a resilient sales mindset
Key Takeaways:
- What NLP is about and how to use your mindset differently.
- The reason most salespeople don’t reach their potential is they don’t ascertain or discover their true selves.
- Our conscious mind says: “No, we don’t want to do that, that’s scary”. And the unconscious mind is like: “I can do anything”!
- Look at people, especially the one that drives you crazy, and learn and utilize that to become better and thank them for it.
“ Mindset is very much how we see the world because there is no such thing as reality. So how do we get that perception? It’s from our life experiences, and how we see the world. So, let’s say, Nancy, for example, you thought that everybody that interacts with you wants to work with you. Let’s say that was your belief. Let’s say it was a lie, but if you really believed it, you’re going to show up in a way that would be expectant of people to want to interact with you. And you know what? People would start doing that because you show up in that way. And if I went into the same meeting and my belief was nobody wants to do business with me, or we’re too small a company, then of course, people wouldn’t ask and I’d answer questions in a stumbling, bumbling way, not on purpose, but at an unconscious level. So yeah, mindset is how we perceive the world and the meanings we make out of it. And so, the sales mindset is the same, right? It’s how we perceive the world. And one of the elements you’ll be shocked to hear, Nancy, is our beliefs around money have a huge impact on how well we do in sales.” – UMAR
“Number one, you know who you are, and you know what you want so you get clarity on what you want to achieve in your sales career. Number two is you get confidence, like a massive amount of confidence that allows you, because your clients are going to borrow your confidence in your product and in yourself to go, I should make this decision. Then you need grit, so you do not give up. That allows you to keep on going, so when the person says no, three times in a row, you still handle the objection. You’re not trying to be pushy and force them, but you also don’t want them to miss out. And the last component is passion, which is more contagious than COVID. And if you can know your authentic self, you’ve got those four elements, clarity, confidence, grit, and passion. That’s how you reach your potential. And that’s what we teach, how to change your mindset. So, you figure that stuff out and it doubles your sales, not because we teach you any new techniques, is because you use the techniques you already know in a bolder, purposeful way. And I’m going to preach here just for a second, Nancy, that whatever you believe, let’s label it God. You will put here on earth to shine. And oftentimes when we’re babies, we shine so brightly. And then when life’s experiences, we get a sense of I’m not good enough, people don’t like me. And then we pull our punches, and we start living a smaller life. And that’s not why you were put here. The reason you need to shine, Nancy, is because there are people in your life, your colleagues, your family, your community, that once they see you shine, it permits them to do so as well. So, when we live smaller lives, we’re injuring people that we love around us.” – UMAR
“Fear is the biological imperative that when we’re about to do something new, something scary, fear comes up. And the reason fear comes up is not to stop you. When you’re in the mode of fear, your reaction time is the fastest. You are stronger. You don’t feel pain when you get injured. It’s all the things that you need to be successful. But in our lives, we’ve been trained when fear comes up, and go in the opposite direction. Don’t do that scary thing. Biology is giving us the tools we need to go do it.” – UMAR
Connect with Umar Hameed:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/umarhameed/
- No Limits Selling:https://nolimitsselling.com/one-on-one-coaching-resolve-any-issue/
Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/
Connect with Nancy Calabrese:
- Twitter:https://twitter.com/oneofakindsales
- Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/One-Of-A-Kind-Sales-304978633264832/
- Website:https://oneofakindsales.com
- Phone: 908-879-2911
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ncalabrese/
- Email: leads@oneofakindsales.com
Voiceover: You’re listening to The Conversational Selling Podcast with Nancy Calabrese.
Nancy Calabrese: Hi, it’s Nancy Calabrese, and it’s time again for Conversational selling – the podcast where sales leaders and business experts share what’s going on in sales and marketing today and it always starts with the human conversation. Today we’re speaking with Umar Hameed, CEO of No Limits Selling, a professional training and coaching company that specializes in improving the sales performance of realtors and other sales professionals. They use the latest neuroscience and neuro-linguistic programming insights to help sales reps break through their limitations and perform at a higher level. He is a keynote speaker at conferences in 14 countries and the author of three books, including Unleash Your Crazy Sexy Brain where he proves that when you take charge of your mindset, you can attack the world with unstoppable confidence. This is going to be a great conversation, Umar. Welcome to the show!
Umar Hameed: Hey Nancy, thanks for the invite. Yeah, I think it’s going to be an interesting conversation because ultimately at the end of the day, nothing happens till somebody sells something. And you can take that down all the way to a three-year-old that wants a cookie, trying to figure out which parent to go to and what’s the pitch I need to do to win this to closing a multi-billion-dollar deal. [1:38]
Nancy Calabrese: Yeah, yeah, that’s really cool. You know, I want to start with neuro-linguistic programming. I know it as NLP. Can you describe to the audience what that’s about?
Umar Hameed: So, NLP was developed in the 70s and is really an understanding what happens inside human beings at an unconscious level. So, we could look at someone that is amazing at closing sales. And when you ask them, how do you close a sale, they say, oh, that’s easy. You take this five-step process, and you will be able to close any sale you want. And we teach it to 100 salespeople. And only two of them are going to get similar results. Everybody else is going to get OK results. So, the question is, if the master is teaching us the step-by-step and not everybody’s getting it, there must be something happening at an unconscious level of the recipients of the training, and the master, what they’re doing, and what NLP does is it figures out, oh, this is what the master is doing. He’s making a picture of the outcome he wants in his head. He’s saying this to himself. So, we look at what’s happening underneath the hood of your brain. And then once we figure that out, we can teach you that process. And then suddenly, Nancy, you start closing at a much higher level because it’s about how to use your mindset in a different way. NLP decodes that and lets you replicate it. [3:01]
Nancy Calabrese: Wow. So, speaking of mindset, what is the sales mindset?
Umar Hameed: So, define mindset first. Mindset is very much how we see the world because there is no such thing as reality because if, take this example, you’ve got 40 FBI agents in a room at a lecture, and somebody comes in and accosts the trainer and leaves. Then they ask these trained FBI agents who came in and even FBI agents will have a different view of reality. He was this doll, no. It was shorter, it was this, it was that. So, once we realize that there is no reality, it’s just our perception of it. So how do we get that perception? It’s from our life’s experiences, how we see the world. So, let’s say, Nancy, for example, you thought that everybody that interacts with you wants to work with you. Let’s say that was your belief. Let’s say it was a lie, but you really believed it, you’re going to show up in a way that would be expectant of people to want to interact with you. And you know what? People would start doing that because you show up in that way. And if I went into the same meeting and my belief was nobody wants to do business with me, or we’re too small a company, then of course, people wouldn’t ask and I’d answer questions in a stumbling, bumbling way, not on purpose, but at an unconscious level. So yeah, mindset is how we perceive the world. [4:36]
Nancy Calabrese: Right.
Umar Hameed: and the meanings we make out of it. And so, the sales mindset is the same, right? It’s how we perceive the world. And one of the elements you’ll be shocked to hear, Nancy, is our beliefs around money have a huge impact on how well we do in sales. Because if we think there’s not enough money and things are too expensive, and I try and sell you some coaching services, Nancy, and you go, I’m not sure I can pay that. I’d be more predisposed to give you a discount immediately because I think, oh, well, I’m charging too much. And so, if somebody had a belief that money is plentiful and I deliver awesome value and you said to work with me is $10,000 a month, you would say it with congruity. And I’d kind of go, holy cow, that Nancy knows what she’s doing. I better sign up with her. [5:28]
Nancy Calabrese: Right. Right. Cool. And so why do so few salespeople reach their potential? What’s the issue there?
Umar Hameed: So, I think what’s going on is this, Nancy, I’ve been doing this since 2003. So, I’ve got a good install base of live experiences with people is that we have three faces, Nancy. There’s a face we show the outside world, and it could be a salesperson saying, I’m an amazing salesperson. And that is an illusion. Then we have something I call the delusion where the salesperson, this is who they think they are. And it could be, I showed the world I’m an amazing person, but inside it’s like, you’ve heard of the imposter syndrome. It’s almost a cliche, right? You could have a salesperson that really feels it. I’m not really that good. And there is a third space, which is the authentic self. And I think the reason most salespeople don’t reach their potential is they don’t ascertain or discover their true selves. Because when you discover your true self, something amazing happens. [6:38]
Nancy Calabrese: Right.
Umar Hameed: Number one, you know who you are, and you know what you want so you get clarity on what you want to achieve in your sales career. Number two is you get confidence, like a massive amount of confidence that allows you, because your clients are going to borrow your confidence in your product and in yourself to go, I should make this decision. Then you need grit, so you do not give up. That allows you to keep on going, so when the person says no, three times in a row, you still handle the objection. You’re not trying to be pushy and force them, but you also don’t want them to miss out. And the last component is passion, which is more contagious than COVID. And if you can know your authentic self, you’ve got those four elements, clarity, confidence, grit, and passion. That’s how you reach your potential. And that’s what we teach, how to change your mindset. So, you figure that stuff out and it doubles your sales, not because we teach you any new techniques, is that you use the techniques you already know in a bolder, purposeful way. And I’m going to preach here just for a second, Nancy, that, uh, whatever you believe, uh, let’s label it God. You will put here on earth to shine. And oftentimes when we’re babies, we shine so brightly. And then when life’s experiences, we get a sense of I’m not good enough, people don’t like me. And then we pull our punches, and we start living a smaller life. And that’s not why you were put here. The reason you need to shine, Nancy, is because there’s people in your life, your colleagues, your family, your community, that once they see you shine, it gives them permission to do so as well. So, when we live smaller lives, we’re injuring people that we love around us. [8:32]
Nancy Calabrese: Wow. How long does it take typically for somebody to, you know, change their mindset? Does it vary from person to person?
Umar Hameed: It varies. So, if you want to like deal with like say one issue, like within a month you can change that with the right guide. So, I’ll give you an example. Having a CEO, many CEOs have this, the need to be liked, because you know we’re human beings. And because of that need to be liked, they know what decision to make, but they hold off because they want to make sure no one gets their feelings hurt, or they think they’re a jerk, or they close a division. And changing something like that, you can do in 30 days consistently. Change that belief, it changes the behavior, and it allows the CEO to be a much better leader. And for those four things that I mentioned, clarity of purpose, confidence, grit, passion, 60 days, we’ve got a program in 60 days that you are going to get all those four things in space. It’s going to change your sales career, and it’s going to allow you to go out there and do phenomenal things. [9:43]
Nancy Calabrese: Well, amazing. But why do people keep making the same mistakes repeatedly?
Umar Hameed: So, I think there’s a couple of reasons for that. One reason is that they never learned a lesson from the event. So, humans are meaning making machines, and an event happens. So, let’s say the event happens is that we are working on this deal, we’re counting on it, our VP’s counting on it, more importantly, our spouse is counting on it, and at the last minute, the customer says, no, I’m not doing it. Now that can bum a salesperson out for an afternoon, a week, or the rest of the year. And so, what we do is the reason we don’t learn from those things is that when we hit failure, we want to move away from it. So, fear is like an interesting thing, right? Fear is the biological imperative that when we’re about to do something new, something scary, fear comes up. And the reason fear comes up is not to stop you. Nancy, when you’re in the mode of fear, your reaction time is the fastest. You are stronger. You don’t feel pain when you get injured. It’s all the things that you need to be successful. But in our lives, we’ve been trained when fear comes up, go in the opposite direction. Don’t do that scary thing. When…Biology is giving us the tools we need to go do it. So, it’s, you know, our childhoods. Basically, we can have the best parents in the world, but still, we could make meanings out of our childhood that allow us to live smaller lives. And you could have people that had the worst childhoods with trauma, and they come out of it like, I’ll show you. And so, it’s the meanings that we make that end up making the difference. And when you have more grit, more confidence, more passion, when things that go awry, the meanings we make are, I can overcome that easily. And when we don’t have that, then it’s like, oh, people figured out that, you know, I’m no good, or our offer isn’t that good. And can I give you a real-life example of one of these? [12:05]
Nancy Calabrese: Oh sure, yeah.
Umar Hameed: So, I was working with a company in Silicon Valley and the VP of Worldwide Sales, it said Umar, are my salespeople sell on price and not on value? And we talk about selling on value all the time, I’m not sure what’s going on. So, I go and interview the salespeople and it turns out what’s going on is this, is that they’re competing, they’re like a $40 million company and they’re competing with Intel and Motorola, which are billion-dollar companies. And they don’t trust the other people in their company. So, the engineering folks have promised to release products on a certain day, this is going to be out by February 1. And now it’s June 1 and it’s still not out. So like, I can trust those guys. And sometimes they build the wrong product that customers don’t want. And so, what we ascertain was it’s a trust issue. It’s not a sales issue. We went in, we got all the departments together and changed the beliefs around each other and what they’re trying to achieve. [13:04]
Nancy Calabrese: Right.
Umar Hameed: And two months later, I get a call from the VP saying: “Umar, we’re not only selling one license, but we’re selling multiple licenses and not at a discounted price, full tilt”. When I talk to the salespeople, what’s going on? It’s like, in the past, we’d come back, and we’d tell the folks, the customer needs to change this. And the first thing we’d hear back from people in other departments is that we don’t do that, and I can’t do that. The biggest change has been this. We come back with those requests and the person goes, hmm, how can we make that happen? It’s just changed the entire culture of the company. So, I think that’s what we need to do is we need human beings to be stronger, to get those critical elements, clarity, confidence, grit, passion. And then when we do it for the company, this is where you get a company that has speed and speed is a strategic advantage. It allows them to move faster. And when they make a mistake, nobody gets blamed. They just go, what do we need to change to get different results? And they do it. And that is my wish for companies, for sales teams, for you and for me. [14:13]
Nancy Calabrese: Right, cool. I mean, I know that you’re a certified hypnotist. So how does this help your clients?
Umar Hameed: So, what happens is this, is that sometimes our conscious mind gets in the way of us understanding what’s going on. So, I’ll give you a client story, it’s probably the best one to explain it. I was working with the CEO and on this coaching day, he basically says, Umar, I think what I want to do is I want to quit and go somewhere else, cause the board just isn’t getting what I’m trying to achieve and they’re not supporting me at all. And I go, hmm. So, I could ask him questions around it and he’s already got his mind made up. So, this brave CEO was willing to be going to an altered state. So, I take him into an altered state. And I go, let’s just call him Jack. Jack, four of the board members are not getting what you’re trying to communicate. And it could be that you’re not clear enough or they’re not understanding. Whoever one of those board members are, have them sit right in front of you and figure out what’s going on. And when you know what the situation is, what needs to be fixed? Lift your finger so I know it’s done. God lifts up his finger. Then we go to the second, third, fourth board member. And I had no idea how many board members didn’t understand. And then I bring him up out of the trance and I go, what was that like? He goes, oh my God, I know the mistake I was making. They’re not understanding this, this, and this. And the very next day they had a board meeting, which he went to. Then he calls me up after the board meeting and says, Umar, the board is 100% committed on this new direction that we’re doing. And two years later, they sold the company, and he got a massive buyout. And the point I’m trying to make here is I didn’t tell him what the situation was. I just got his conscious mind to get out of the way so his unconscious mind could look at the situation with no bias and find the solutions. Because oftentimes we have the answers, it’s just our conscious mind gets in the way and says, no, we don’t want to do that, that’s scary. And the unconscious mind is like, I can do anything. [16:16]
Nancy Calabrese: Right. Wow. How do you build a resilient sales mindset?
Umar Hameed: So, I think it’s that grit component is like so essential to doing that. And I’ve got a video that I just shot before this podcast that takes you through a five-step process on how to get more grit and it’s going to be published soon. So, if anybody wants to find out, just send me a direct message or an email. I’ll send it out to you on the house and it’ll show you how to be grittier. [16:52]
Nancy Calabrese: Right. Okay. Oh, that’s awesome. Hey, take advantage of that, everyone. And you know, we’re almost up with time. I want to let me ask you this. What do you believe in greatly that other people don’t necessarily agree with you on?
Umar Hameed: So, what I believe in wholeheartedly is this, is the people that are out there that vex us, the situations that are tragic or horrible, we turn away from those situations where the very messages we need to improve our lives are sitting there. So, for example, let’s say Nancy, you are someone that really, really irritates me. It’s like, oh, that fricking Nancy, I can’t stand her. Then when you ask yourself, what is the attribute that Nancy has that drives you crazy? And I would go that she is pushy. And then I asked myself, do I have a pushy gene in me? And the answer always is yes. The reason I don’t like it in Nancy because I have it in myself, and that’s a gift that I wouldn’t have gotten unless I looked at it that way. The reason there’s 8 billion people on this planet is that it’s hard to see other people, it’s hard, it’s easy to see other people and their flaws. It’s hard to see our own. So, there’s eight billion people that are there, is the people that irritate us, to figure out what’s their attribute and then go, oh my God, I have it too. Once you know you have it, you can minimize it. And the reverse is true. So, let’s say, Nancy, what I love about Nancy is that she is such a caring person. And the only reason I would admire it is that I’ve got some element of that myself. And I go, oh yeah, I do have caring but not as much as Nancy, then how do I amp up my caring? And so, people are a gift. So, look at people, especially the one that drives you crazy or situations that drive you crazy, and learn and utilize that to become better and thank them for it. [18:56]
Nancy Calabrese: That’s awesome. So how, how can my people find you?
Umar Hameed: The easiest way to find me is to go to my website at No Limits, that’s within an S, selling.com, or look up incredibly handsome dude on LinkedIn. Okay, you won’t find me there. Put in Umar Hameed, then you’ll find me.
Nancy Calabrese: Yeah, you know, you are pretty good looking folks. You can’t see him, so check him out on LinkedIn. A huge thank you for sharing your expertise with all of us today. Umar, you’re a lot of fun. Everyone out there, take advantage of this gentleman’s, I want to say wisdom and humor. Humor is a big part of your life, isn’t it, Umar?
Umar Hameed: It is such a gift, isn’t it, in terms of just, we’re going to laugh at whatever tragedy happened, eventually want to laugh now, learn the lesson, laugh now and move on. [19:50]
Nancy Calabrese: Yep, I totally agree with you. So great conversation, folks. Reach out to Umar and make it an awesome sales day. [19:59]
