 Ray Barry |
The most important quality that the top sales professionals and business owners possess is, without a doubt, a positive attitude.
The most successful salespeople that I know in any industry all have great attitudes. In sales, as in life, attitude is a major factor in our successes and failures. Your attitude toward yourself, your company, your service and those of other companies will determine your success or failure in sales. Believing you can and will achieve whatever you set your mind to is critical.
High self-belief leads to success. Think about it; when was the last time you went into a sales call with a negative attitude and won the business? Having a negative attitude makes you less likeable and approachable. Also, negative thoughts have a way of taking over your positive thoughts, bringing about a negative outcome.
As Earl Nightingale, author of the classic The Strangest Secret, says, “You become what you think about all day long.” If this is true, why waste precious time with negative thoughts?
Sometimes the biggest sales challenges can be overcome with the proper attitude. That said, how do you maintain a positive attitude when the market is a little more difficult? True sales professionals maintain a positive attitude despite their challenges and setbacks, knowing this will help them overcome adversity and achieve their objectives.
Here are some simple tips to help maintain a positive attitude during difficult times:
• Think positively and visualize making the sale before the call or meeting.
• Learn from your losses without dwelling on them.
• Think of past accomplishments and repeat positive behaviors and actions that contributed to them. Review your client testimonials to relive these successes.
• Don’t watch or read “negative” local or national news, unless of course it’s about ID theft.
• Stay away from the Ned and Nelly Negaholics out there! They are contagious.
• Remember that you provide a very valuable service to your clients and prospects. Our industry provides security and insurance, not just shredding. We are actually helping people protect themselves from ID theft, and that’s a positive.
• Write down your annual goals and post them in front of you; review them regularly, noting your successes.
• Tap into the positive power of giving. Helping people without expecting something in return and without keeping score does wonders for your attitude. • Help motivate others; you can’t help but be positive.
As a friend of mine says, “Have a great attitude, teach aptitude and learn altitude!”
Ray Barry is vice president of Total Product Destruction and president of Total Training Services, which operates The Shred School in Spartanburg, S.C. He has trained more than 220 companies in the document destruction industry to grow their businesses. Previously, he was part of a shredding company that was named twice in Inc. magazine as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in America. Barry can be contacted at raybarry@totaltrainingservices.com or at 864-699-8417.
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