People want to do business with people they like. And that means happy, upbeat salespeople are more successful than their dour colleagues. Optimism is helpful not only because it causes you to project a happy attitude, but also because it equates to confidence – one of the most crucial selling skills.
When you first make contact with a prospect it most likely happens over the phone. The person you're speaking with has never met you and probably knows nothing about you, aside from potentially having some secondhand knowledge of your company. Taking the sale to the next level requires you to be the kind of person who that prospect feels he can trust at least a little – enough that he's willing to take the time to speak with you further.
That's the kind of situation where optimism can really help in sales. A positive attitude is contagious, so if you're upbeat then talking with you will make a prospect feel a bit more positive too. And that feeling often translates to liking the person who's giving it to him. Things like tone of voice, volume, word choice, and excitement level have a strong effect over the phone, since the other person can't see you.
Optimism helps out in other ways, too. Someone with a positive approach tends to handle adversity better. He sees it as strictly temporary and is sure that he can find a way to cope with it, so he gets right to work finding the best way to resolve the problem. A less-than-positive person, on the other hand, is more likely to give up quickly in the face of a challenge and simply accept the situation as the new status quo.
Pessimists also tend to worry more about what the future will bring. Excessive worrying is a huge drain on your mental resources. Many anxious people spend a lot of time thinking about the different ways that a problem or challenge might play out, but since in reality only one of those endings will actually happen, most of the energy that goes into planning for all those possibilities is spent for nothing. And it's entirely possible that things will happen in an unexpected way, which means all that anxiety was really for nothing.
That's not to say that planning for the future is a bad idea of course, but there's a big difference between saving a portion of your commissions against a slow month in the future and obsessing over whether you'll make your quota next month. The first is a good general precaution against problems that might arise in the future; the second doesn't gain you anything but some sleepless nights.
If you tend to take a pessimistic view of the world, you can adjust your attitude to a degree – and you'll quickly find that doing so will have a significant impact on your sales. That doesn't require you to pin a happy smile on your face and pretend that nothing bad will ever happen. The best way to build optimism is by building your self-confidence. When you make a sale, reward yourself in a small way. Save your positive letters and emails, whether they're from customers or co-workers, and read them over when you're feeling low.
It's possible that your job environment may also be having a negative affect on your outlook. A toxic sales manager or an over-competitive sales team can certainly affect your attitude for the worse. In that case, it may be time to start looking for a healthier situation.
By Wendy Connick
http://sales.about.com/
When you first make contact with a prospect it most likely happens over the phone. The person you're speaking with has never met you and probably knows nothing about you, aside from potentially having some secondhand knowledge of your company. Taking the sale to the next level requires you to be the kind of person who that prospect feels he can trust at least a little – enough that he's willing to take the time to speak with you further.
That's the kind of situation where optimism can really help in sales. A positive attitude is contagious, so if you're upbeat then talking with you will make a prospect feel a bit more positive too. And that feeling often translates to liking the person who's giving it to him. Things like tone of voice, volume, word choice, and excitement level have a strong effect over the phone, since the other person can't see you.
Optimism helps out in other ways, too. Someone with a positive approach tends to handle adversity better. He sees it as strictly temporary and is sure that he can find a way to cope with it, so he gets right to work finding the best way to resolve the problem. A less-than-positive person, on the other hand, is more likely to give up quickly in the face of a challenge and simply accept the situation as the new status quo.
Pessimists also tend to worry more about what the future will bring. Excessive worrying is a huge drain on your mental resources. Many anxious people spend a lot of time thinking about the different ways that a problem or challenge might play out, but since in reality only one of those endings will actually happen, most of the energy that goes into planning for all those possibilities is spent for nothing. And it's entirely possible that things will happen in an unexpected way, which means all that anxiety was really for nothing.
That's not to say that planning for the future is a bad idea of course, but there's a big difference between saving a portion of your commissions against a slow month in the future and obsessing over whether you'll make your quota next month. The first is a good general precaution against problems that might arise in the future; the second doesn't gain you anything but some sleepless nights.
If you tend to take a pessimistic view of the world, you can adjust your attitude to a degree – and you'll quickly find that doing so will have a significant impact on your sales. That doesn't require you to pin a happy smile on your face and pretend that nothing bad will ever happen. The best way to build optimism is by building your self-confidence. When you make a sale, reward yourself in a small way. Save your positive letters and emails, whether they're from customers or co-workers, and read them over when you're feeling low.
It's possible that your job environment may also be having a negative affect on your outlook. A toxic sales manager or an over-competitive sales team can certainly affect your attitude for the worse. In that case, it may be time to start looking for a healthier situation.
By Wendy Connick
http://sales.about.com/
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