The other day I ran a “googledex” analysis on the economy. I use “googledex” as a term for when I enter a topic into Google and gauge mood on a topic by reviewing the titles on the first three result pages. It isn’t scientific but it’s really interesting.
When I typed in “economy” 23 titles were on the first three pages. Five titles were hopeful, three neutral and fifteen negative. That made a 3 to 1 negative “googledex.” No wonder everyone is depressed about our economy and worried about their job. The mood about the economy is very negative.
Don’t get me wrong; with the economy being as it is, I believe we all have more than enough of a reason to feel down. But that brings up an interesting issue. How many prospects yearn to buy from a sad salesperson? Doom and gloom doesn’t really inspire confidence now does it? So if you are feeling down, but your sales need to go up, what are you to do?
I take my cue from Viktor Frankl. Viktor said, “The last of the human freedoms, to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, is to choose ones way.” Viktor Frankl was a psychologist and holocaust survivor who noticed that the choice of attitude among concentration camp prisoners influenced their fate.
Prisoners who chose to give into the hopelessness of their situation seemed to perish quickly and those who chose to be positive managed better. People, who choose to be positive, no matter what their circumstances, fare better than those who do not. The same is especially true of salespeople.
So if you are feeling a little down here are ten tips to help you choose to have a more positive attitude:
How to be positive
1. Take 100% Responsibility- When you are 100% responsible for your results you are 100% in control of your future. Being in control makes humans happy. It is that simple.
2. Don’t take “No” personally- If you question yourself every time you hear a “No” in sales, you’ll question yourself often and be unhappy forever.
3. Set Goals- People feel happier when they are progressing toward a destination; however, with no goals there is no destination or feeling of progress.
4. Manage and organize your time- Working hard but making no progress is depressing, but working smart and achieving goals makes you feel happy.
5. See obstacles as challenges, not excuses- An obstacle can be seen as a reason to quit or an opportunity to grow. Quitting makes us sad and growing makes us happy.
6. Don’t talk about downbeat topics- There is an old saying, “What we talk about is what we are.” If you talk about negative topics you become a negative person.
7. Stop Complaining- Complain to someone who can do something about your issue once and let it go. You have goals to achieve and challenges to overcome so don’t waste your time complaining about things that aren’t going to change to people who can’t do anything about it.
8. Avoid saying “your wrong”- I can’t remember the last time I witnessed a positive conversation that began with “your wrong”. Can you?
9. Avoid saying “But”- “But” is used in conversations to transition from insincere thoughts to honest ones. For example, “I think you have the best product, but I want to go in another direction.” Just say what you think and people will respect you.
10. Avoid saying negative things- Do I need to say more? I’ve never heard someone say, “I just love to be around him, he’s so negative.”
In closing, let me give you a bonus thought. The attitude you convey is driven by the meaning you choose to place on the events that occur in your life. If you lose a sale- you can choose to believe that it means you’re a bad salesperson and become depressed or you can choose to believe that sales is a numbers game and that a “no” is a good thing because it moves you one step closer to someone who will say “yes”. Same event but vastly different attitudes.
Now go forth and be happy!
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