In 2000, Andrew Scheffer was mystudent in a graduate program at

The Wharton School, at TheUniversity of Pennsylvania. Sincethat time, after spending 15 years inprivate wealth management on WallSt. in New York and in Singapore,he has turned mindfulness, his 25-year passion, into his thriving fulltime occupation. Andrew’s experiencein this area is extensive andincludes eight years of full timestudy with some the world’sgreatest teachers, prior to Wharton,

and periods of intensive practiceafter Wharton. He has dedicatedmore than 10,000 hours tointensive training in this field.Andrew now works with large andsmall companies globally. He isunique in his field in combining astrong business and salesbackground with a deepunderstanding of mindfulness.

In preparation for my interview,and because of my personalinterest in mindfulness, I thoughtabout the definitions I had learned

such as, “being engaged andobserving the present moment non-judgmentally,” “being mindful ofwhat is going on,” “being in theflow”. But I particularly likeAndrew’s definition of mindfulnessas a quality of mind, a faculty ofmind that each of us already has.Andrew likens mindfulness to theWizard of Oz in which the lion, thescarecrow and the tin man came torealize that they already possessthe qualities they thought they werelacking; they needed only to

Top Sales Magazine June 30th Edition 2015 5

The Linda Richardson Interview

Can Mindfulness Make You aBetter Salesperson?"Linda Richardson interviews the world's leading expert, Andrew Scheffer.

June 30th Edition 2015 Top Sales Magazine 6

recognize, identify and nurturethose qualities within themselves.

Mindfulness training offerspractical techniques to use torecognize and enhance the mentalquality of mindfulness, which wealready possess. Andrew sees the“definition”, “observing non-judgmentally in the present moment”as the result of cultivatingmindfulness, rather than a definitionof mindfulness itself.

Recently, mindfulness hasgotten a great deal of mediaattention in corporate America withcompanies such as Aetna, Google,Target, SAP, Glh and numerousothers making mindfulnessdevelopment a part of theirstrategies. Also, media megastarsOprah (Soulful Sunday) andAnderson Cooper (60 Minutes)have highlighted mindfulness’effectiveness. Top sportsfranchises, including the SeattleSeahawks, Chicago Bulls and L.A.Lakers, are also training their talentin mindfulness and achievingoutstanding results.

Andrew saw the interest inmindfulness, and the extensiveresearch reinforcing the benefits ofmindfulness, as an opportunity tomake his life’s passion his life’swork by bringing mindfulness to thebusiness world. The data points tothe many benefits of mindfulness,including: better decision making,increased productivity, deeperawareness, improved ethics,greater resiliency, and greaterenergy and mental and physicalhealth, resulted in things likeincreased engagement and reducedabsenteeism. He has foundreceptiveness among companies

that are looking to mindfulness as away to gain a performance edgeand engage their team members toset them apart.

Many of the top companies (asranked by Forbes or otheremployee choice awards) areamong the first and early corporateadopters, and their commitment tocorporate mindfulness programshas made mindfulness moreacceptable in modern businessculture. Andrew does caution that,as mindfulness has become morepopular, many people are adding itto the names of courses andpresenting themselves as qualifiedteachers - even when they lack adeep experience of it. At this point,differentiation is a challenge andthere isn’t even a standarddefinition of mindfulness.

Recent advancements inneuroscience, enabled by FMRI(Functional Magnetic ResonanceImaging of the brain), have led tonew discoveries that the brain canbe developed and transformed. Instudying people who meditate,scientists found that meditationactually changes the structure ofthe brain and develops new neuralpathways, as well as thickerconnections within different areasof the brain.

Meditation not only enables thebrain to develop in areasassociated with happiness,compassion and well being, but italso deactivates areas of the brainassociated with fear and othernegativity. Most people don’t focuson what qualities they aredeveloping with their thinking suchas worry or stress. As they worry orare stressed, they are actually

strengthening the habit and thephysical parts of the brainassociated with these negativeemotions. However, with mindfulness,people can shift the mind fromnegative to neutral or even topositive.

If mindfulness can be cultivatedand developed and improve thingssuch as decision-making andproductivity, how can you, in yourrole in sales and life, go aboutbecoming more mindful? Andrewdiscussed how much of asalesperson’s time is consumed bythinking about the past or worryingabout the future. Being lost in thosemind states, he says, is theopposite of mindfulness. But bymeditating, by focusing on thebreath, the mind can quickly beshifted out of negative tendencies.Focusing on breathing seems verysimple but is amazingly difficult, i.e.after a quarter of a second the mindfrequently wanders to thoughts,which often are negative. Theability to see positive potential inwhat previously had seemedhopeless is quite essential in salesand all aspects of life. It allows for abetter future by taking advantage ofopportunities in the here and nowand not wasting time speculatingabout an uncertain future.

MeditationAndrew teaches two modes ofmeditation: Mindfulness andHeartfelt Loving- Kindness. If at thispoint this seems touchy feely,please give it a chance. Manyglobal leaders are banking on it asan essential part of their businessstrategies. The research and, mostimportantly, feedback from

The Linda Richardson Interview

participants across industries,support it. For example, Andrewworks with clients such as the GLHGroup, the largest owner andoperator of hotel rooms in the UK.He developed a mindfulness basedtraining program to empoweremployees and foster thecompany’s proactive andsupportive “Radical Hosting” and“Never Worry Alone” culture. Theprogram will now be rolled out to2500 employees company wide. Inaddition to introductory mindfulnessprograms and custom training,Andrew provides modules that canbe integrated within a client’scurrent training and developmentinitiatives to make it a part of theculture’s fabric. Mindfulness alsohas been proven to enhancelearning outcomes - it helps getparticipants in the right mindset andfrees their mind of some of thestress or distractions.

Mindfulness MeditationMindfulness Meditation starts withthe present moment. To be mindful,Andrew suggests starting with thevery basic steps of MindfulMeditation (Breath Meditation) inwhich you concentrate on yourbreathing because breath is neutral(no feelings or emotions areattached to it) and therefore itserves as a wonderful object ofattention. In mindfulness, theconcept of neutral is important. Atfirst, trying to pay attention to onesbreath is incredibly difficult. Butmeditation can retrain the mind tobe more skilled in concentrationand seeing what is going on moreclearly. It can help you observeopportunities more accurately and

perceive things more rapidly, whichis a strong advantage in sales.

Andrew recognized how difficultthe level of focus was decades agoin his early days of learningmeditation. His object was to slowhis walking down by payingattention to three elements: lifting ofthe foot off the ground, moving ofthe foot forward, and the placing ofthe foot on the ground. In thoseshort moments as he tried to paycareful attention, he found his mindwander almost instantly. Ifseemingly easy tasks like focusingon one’s breath and payingattention to the sensations ofwalking are difficult, imagine whathappens to salespeople whosedays are hectic and pressuredwhen they are not even intentlytrying to focus… Imagine howeasily their minds drift, they getdistracted or react (unskillfully)without thinking. In a sales call,however, if you can note when youstop listening to your customer andwhen you begin to formulate youranswer (most people stop listeningto an answer fully between 47 and52 seconds, but most customers’answers are longer than that), youcan stop missing the enormousamount of useful information theclient is sharing with you, andadditional sales opportunities. Withmindfulness, the quality of yoursolutions can be better than yourcompetitors’ who are distracted andlost in their own thinking. Yourability to listen fully informs yourability to offer effective solutions.And very few training programsteach the skill of focusing and beingpresent.

To start training, Andrew

suggests the noting or labelingtechnique in which you note or labelwhat you are experiencing(example breathing as theabdomen rises and making a softmental label or note, ‘ rising/rising”,“falling/falling” or noting emotionssuch as worry or frustration andlabeling them as “worry/worry”,“frustrated/ frustrated”, “thinking/thinking”, or whatever is mostappropriate). When you label yourexperience, it helps you detachfrom the content and be moreaware of the actual mental orphysical process taking place. Thenyou are in a better position toassess if how you are spendingyour time is how you actually wantto be spending your time, and if thehabits you are developing will leadto the results that you want. Seeingclearly, allows for consciouschoices.

Andrew uses mindfulness notonly for himself, but with teams hehas managed. He finds that mostsalespeople get caught up in theirown thinking when they meet withtheir customers or prospects. Whensalespeople are caught up in thecontent of their own heads, theircapacity to respond to the client isvery limited and therefore they don’tconnect and cannot address theissues important to the customer.Unless salespeople are present,they won’t know where theircustomers are in their thinking orwhat the real concerns are, andtherefore they will not be able toaddress their clients’ doubts orconcerns effectively.

Mindfulness allows salespeopleto first practice and enhance theirability to listen by focusing on

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June 30th Edition 2015 Top Sales Magazine 8

themselves and quietly followingtheir breath. This discipline is thentransferred to listening to customersand colleagues. Andrew seesmindfulness as the most effectivetool to connect with oneself andwith others - two essential qualitiesof Emotional Intelligence. It hasbeen Andrew’s experience thatwhen a salesperson can be presentand listen to what a customer isactually saying, they will have aremarkable capacity to respondskillfully. Mindful Meditation gives amoment of clarity by breakinghabitual reactions and provides themental space needed for a momentof conscious decision-making,which enables a salesperson tointeract far more effectively withcustomers.

Author Viktor E. Frankl said itbest, “Between stimulus andresponse there is a space. In thatspace is our power to choose ourresponse. In our response lies ourgrowth and our freedom.”

Mindfulness, according toAndrew, is the practical tool andtechnique that gives us that spaceand freedom.

While companies invest heavilyin sales training, Andrew finds thatsalespeople need the ability to“clear their minds” and breakundermining habits, andmindfulness gives that ability. Whentop tennis players were analyzedfor what differentiated the very topplayers from the group below them,recovery rituals were the commondenominator. If at every point a topplayer uses the few seconds inbetween points to refocus his or hermind and recover, over the courseof a 3 hour match that can add up to

15-20 minutes of less exertion, inaddition to some recovery time.Now, considering that fatiguecontributes to poor decision-making, it becomes clear how asimple practice, even for a fewseconds, repeated regularly canaccumulate to have a significantimpact.

If throughout the day, and rightbefore a sales call, you can take amoment to “clear your mind” of thenegative and recover a morepositive outlook by following yourbreath for 5 seconds or a minute,and during a sales call control youremotions, you will become moreaware of what you are feeling(using the noting technique), andyou are more likely to remain atyour “peak” to respond moreskillfully and get to the heart of anobjection or understand the realgoal of a client.

By noting your own emotions(what is going on in yourexperience), you can cut off thenegative disruption and distractionin its track. Unnoted isunacknowledged, but notingreleases the store of emotions. Thekey is not to be carried away by thepast or by what is happening nowthat you are not conscious of, but tostay in the present and clear yourmind, so you have the capacity torespond wholeheartedly andskillfully.

Mindfulness can be difficult,because the mind is easily off onsome tangent and it is necessary topick up and start over again. Initiallypeople berate themselves withcritical self talk (that follows manypeople throughout their daily lives)with thoughts such as “I should be

able to do this” or “What is wrongwith me; I can’t do this.” But byobserving that negative self-talk,you take the first step totransforming or eliminating thenegative thoughts. In any case,Andrew assures it won’t have thepower over you that it previouslydid. He sees for himself thatthrough meditation, over time, hehas become less critical of himself,less angry or frustrated and that helearns more quickly from hismistakes.

Loving Kindness Meditation Whereas mindfulness is focused onthe present moment reality, LovingKindness Meditation is moreconceptual in nature. It starts withyou focusing on yourself. It involvesrepeating four phrases that movefrom an initial focus on yourself, tolater focusing on a person who hasbeen positive or a benefactor inyour life, and ultimately, to allbeings. The phrases are simple andare intended to arouse theassociated feelings…

l May I be safe (This phrase isprotective - think of a time of purehappiness and freedom fromexternal and internal enemies)l May I be happy (This phrase ismeant to help you associate with afeeling of pure happiness) l May I be healthy (This phrase ismeant to help you associate with afeeling of physical well being)l May I look after myself with ease(This phrase is meant to create thequality of equanimity and thingsflowing easily.)

The phrases are repeated three or

The Linda Richardson Interview

more times to help you see thepositive qualities in yourself andyour customers and colleagues. Inturn, customers and colleaguessense the positive feeling comingtoward them and respond to thatmuch more favorably. Andrew hasfound that meditation takes awaynegative blaming, fault finding, andthe dynamic of us vs. them. It istraining for the brain like weighttraining is for the body.

Loving Kindness Meditationstarts the shift to wanting what isbest for customers, even when yourand their ideas are different, andhelps correct the discord. It canhelp reduce the baggage, slowdown negative responses and,ultimately, transform emotions likefrustration and agitation. That shiftof mindset is powerful in salesinteractions in creating many new

sales and collaborationopportunities.

Advice from AndrewYou live in a world where managersand senior executives putenormous demands and amounts ofpressures and expectations on you.It is important to step back from thatand figure out what is best in thecontext of your being a successfulsalesperson, so that you know whatyou need to do to be successful.Most managers know the resultsthey want, but often they don’t knowhow to produce those results in you.

You must be responsible for

yourself and your best performanceby figuring out what will work andwhat is optimal for you.Mindfulness, because it will helpyou see more clearly, will help youmake better decisions and see theopportunities in the present that willhelp you meet your goals. You can’tlive in the past. The future isuncertain. All you have is thepresent moment. To maximize it, bepresent in the moment and you willfigure out the next step to take andthe one after that—but not twobeyond that. n

To learn more about how Mindfulness can benefityou or your organization, contact Andrew Schefferat Andrew@andrewscheffer.com orwww.andrewscheffer.com

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