How to become a top 1% seller: Building the 'indifference' mental muscle

It’s been a minute, but we’re back with some extreme growth nerdery.

Where have we been? Deep in the delivery of our current Sales Accelerator! (more on that below! 👇)

In today’s Growth Drop:

• 😅 1400+ word piece on ‘indifference’, the sales skill of the top 1%

• 🚀 What’s next for the Sales Accelerator in 2026 ➡️ Next cohort EOI ⬅️

Also! If you’re making your way to SouthStart, Zac and I will be running a masterclass on The Cyborg Sales System - How a Team of 1 Becomes 10 with Claude (SouthStart agenda here).

SALES ACCELERATOR

Our Goal to Work with 120 Founders

Last year, we helped 40 companies build repeatable sales processes through our Sales Accelerator program!

(🤫 P.S. Our community can use this link for a demo or to start a free 14-day trial of Firmable.)

In week 2, we embedded complex sales discovery and learnt how to: get prospects problem aware, quantify the problem is worth solving, align our solution, and move from ‘if’ to ‘how’ with implementation.

Right now, we’re coming to the end of week 3 and deep into contextual outbound with prospects via LinkedIn, email, and calls.

‼️ Want to join our next cohort? ‼️ Express your interest or chat with me here to make sure it’s a fit.

GROWTH WITH GREALY

'Indifference' Is the Sales Skill of 2026

I’ve worked for a founder worth 9 figures and sales leaders closing $100k - $20m deals, and been savaged in negotiations by those better equipped.

There’s a mental muscle the top 1% have built.

Indifference.

Indifference is when you are emotionally removed from the end outcome of a decision. You observe facts, make decisions objectively and at your own pace, to remain in control.

In sales, indifference separates the good from the elite and determines your ability to move upmarket, manage complexity, and stay cool.

Begin the Journey to Indifference ⤵️

1. Preparation

2. Mind and Body

3. The Power of Time

4. Silence

1. Preparation

Know what you want before you enter the room.

In our last Growth Drop, we touched on the importance of sales call prep. This time, we’re going deeper.

Preparation is the obsession with guaranteeing exceptional performance. It begins with planning and visualising what you clearly intend to achieve, with no acceptance of settling.

Reflect: Consider how you currently prepare for sales meetings, important conversations, and negotiations.

• How do you feel in these situations?

• What do you do? Are you structured?

• Do you list every option the conversation could take?

• Are you clear on what you want and how you’ll get there?

• Are you clear on your dealbreakers?

• Do you have a routine that helps you get into the right state of mind?

Action: Note the following and ensure you’re clear on them going into your next important conversation.

1. What do I want from this conversation at this stage of the process?

   • For example, in a partnership conversation, you just want to learn about their lead quality and profiles. You don’t want to agree to a referral % or clip of deal flow.

   • Or, in a complex sale, you want to confirm that you are the vendor of choice and will not allocate further resources to investigate a business case until this is confirmed.

2. What concerns and reservations do you have about the opportunity?

   • For example, they don’t have the funds, you’ve heard about low integrity, it’s a distraction.

3. What information would resolve these concerns and reservations?

4. What do you need to see from the other side?

   • Is it: trust, acceptance, honesty, integrity?

   • Does it look like sharing insights and information, being honest about their budget, and introductions to other leaders?

5. What are the ideal next steps from this conversation, and what needs to happen for this to be unlocked?

2. Mind and Body

Have you ever instantly regretted a decision or something you said?

F*ck, I know I have. Most of the time, it’s driven by emotion.

Payback, frustration, lack of self-belief, listening to my ego, not being able to see the trees from the forest.

Master negotiators and dealmakers will play with your ego and emotion, so take them off the table.

This requires understanding a flow state, where you’re operating at your best and leaving meetings feeling in control, present, and grounded.

Mind and body are connected, so let’s look at how you can increase the odds on your side.

a. Reflect: Consider the time of day when booking meetings or having a conversation.

1. When is the best time of day for important conversations?

   • My energy is best between 10am-1pm. I feel alert, calm and present.

2. When is the worst time of day for important conversations?

   • For me, that’s 6am-9am, when I’m still waking up, or anytime after 3pm, when my energy begins to slump.

a. Action: Set a hard rule that you won’t have important conversations outside of your ‘best time’.

b. Reflect: What routine makes you feel in flow, present, and grounded?

Is it the gym and a steak, or sauna and plunge, or maybe sitting alone on the grass listening to music?

b. Action: Before important conversations, plan your routine to hit flow.

For that day, add the gym, sauna or outside time to your calendar.

Don’t pressure yourself to always be working in the weeds; you need to be in flow and thinking strategically. This won’t be achieved if you have been working on projects, scrolling, or writing emails all day.

c. Reflect: How’s your breathing and the pacing of your speech?

Your body will respond to the pace you set. If you are rushing, you trigger your body's fight or flight response, often resulting in faster breathing and speech.

c. Action: Use a physiological sigh to drop your heart rate, feel centred, and slow your tone and pace of voice.

Yes, THIS WORKS and can be done prior to and during the conversation. I have used this on video and phone calls to re-centre myself.

3. The Power of Time

My favourite author, Joe Dispenza, discusses the idea that time comes from within and we can master how we view it.

In life, we hand over our time management at a young age, but not all timelines are genuine due dates, like a school assignment. Instead, they are manufactured… yes, someone made up the timeline.

Now, if you’re thinking, “but Sean, I’m dealing with stakeholders where the decision needs to be made by ‘X date’”, I hear you, and most founders and sellers lose their ability to stay indifferent when they are overwhelmed by the urgency of a manufactured timeline.

Reflect: When provided a timeline, consider:

• How truthful is the timeline?

• Why was that date chosen?

  • Is there a compelling event driving it? (E.g. Exec meeting, internal reviews, budget allocation)

• Should I pursue this if I do not have the time I need to make the right decision? 

• Is there a way to use the other party’s urgency to advance conversations and the information we require to make the right decision?

• How can you test the validity of the timeline provided?

“You do not need to solve the other party’s time problem” is one of my favourite ‘Royisms’. 

Action: Bring the problem forward.

Let's say you’re in a first call and you’re being pressured to provide a proposal by EOW, but you don't have enough information to make it solid.

Bring the problem forward and create a shared problem:

→ "Firstly, love to know what's driving the need for this by EOW?

→ Happy to put together a proposal, but would need further information from you.

→ Are you available for another 60-minute call to bed down licensing, contract terms, launch dates, etc?

→ Who do we need from your team to get alignment on this?

→ Are they available for a call tomorrow?"

Be clear on the time and information you need to make a considered decision, and don’t waver. This will ensure you stay in control and appear indifferent.

4. Silence

In sales discovery or when moving upmarket to more complex deals, the first thing I have sales reps and founders new to selling do is add friction and get comfortable sitting in silence during conversations.

Not as a power move, but to reroute the habit of talking to fill time.

PUT YOURSELF ON MUTE AND SIT BACK!!!

• If you are not talking, put yourself on mute

• Ask a question → hit mute

• Make a point → hit mute

• Actively listening → hit mute

Every time it’s your turn to respond or speak, you’ll have built-in deliberate space to think and take control.

Those 2-3 seconds it takes you to lean forward, move the cursor, and click unmute are your opportunity to find your footing, nail a double breath intake, and slow things down.

This habit displays a level of ‘indifference’ to the other party, and instead of being rushed, jumping in, or cutting someone off, you have created time.

Start by using the mute button friction as the initial silence, then continue increasing the time you take to reply until it’s adequate. Sitting in silence is an art, and again, it will reset the pace and rhythm of a conversation whilst conveying how considered you are.

What To Do Now

I’ve spent 10 years in sales and building businesses, and indifference has been one of the toughest skills for me to master. I am still on the journey every day, getting in the reps.

If you want to dive into your own journey, begin implementing the small habits ⤵️

• Conversation prep

• Mind and body routine

• Time management

• Mute button use

As you learn more about yourself and find your flow, you will build your own model of indifference. Indifference is both an energy and a habit, by making the best decision for yourself time and time again.

This was a joy to write, and I hope it helps you level up. All I ask for is feedback, or for you to share it with a team member, boss, or founder you know who might enjoy it.

If you’d like to really get under the hood of what's required in the big conversations 👉 reach out. We help clients nail the first deal and the biggest deals. After all, no decision is a decision 😉