Drilling for Diamonds

How to overcome failure, rejection and negativity.

Overview:

• Our levels of confidence and persistence and determined by our beliefs.
• To become more confident and persistent we have to think differently.
• Negative beliefs can be identified, challenged and extinguished.

Can you reprogramme yourself to become optimistic - to become more confident and persistent? Can you learn to overcome the negative thinking habits that cause you to despair and give up? Yes, you can. Confidence and persistence are learned skills - ones that can be permanently acquired.

Before you read further, you might like to quickly assess your own levels of confidence and persistence by completing the two questionnaires, How confident are you? and How persistent are you?

How confident are you?

This questionnaire will indicate your level on confidence. For each of the statements listed below, indicate to what extent each one describes you with a number from 1 - 4. Be honest with yourself.

4= Strongly agree

3= Agree

2=Disagree

1=Strongly Disagree

1. I am a very able salesperson.
2. I welcome new sales challenges as a chance to prove myself.
3. I bounce back immediately after a knock back.
4. I make my own success; it has little to do with luck.
5. In tough times i can still perform.
6. I never let criticism get me down.
7. I like who I am.
8. I usually feel calm and in control under pressure.
9. I always believe i can persuade a waivering customer to buy.
10. I rarely, if ever, blame myself when i get rejected.

Now total your scores and interpret as follows:

• If you scored more than 35 you are extremely confident. Your levels of confidence will help you cope with even the toughest of sales challenges.
• If you scored 25 to 35 you are reasonably confident. However, you need to guard against the spells of doubt when you question your ability to stay on top of your job.
• If you scored below 25 you often lack confidence. Handling failure, rejection and negativity is a continual challenge.

How persistent are you?

This questionnaire will indicate your level on persistence. For each of the statements listed below, indicate to what extent each one describes you with a number from 1 - 4. Be honest with yourself.

4= Strongly agree

3= Agree

2=Disagree

1=Strongly Disagree

1. Even when customers are rude and aggressive i follow through with my best level of service.
2. Regardless of how many calls or setbacks it takes, I rarely give up on a live prospect.
3. At work i rarely have trouble getting started on the boring tasks associated with my job.
4. I always go into sales presentations well prepared.
5. I rarely defer completing sales tasks i dislike.
6. Selling is tough, but never too tough for me to handle.
7. If necessary, I’m always prepared to work the extra hours i need to complete a sale.
8. I rarely have trouble completing my cold calls.
9. I rarely allow interruptions to distract me from my important sales tasks.
10. I rarely get behind on my paperwork.

Now total your scores and interpret as follows:

• If you scored more than 35 you are extremely persistent. Your levels of persistence will motivate you to keep going in situations wheres most of your competitors give up.
• If you scored 25 to 35 you are reasonably persistent. However, you are vulnerable to more determined competitors.
• If you scored below 25 persistence is a major problem. competitors will take much of the business you probably feel your deserve.

Popularity: 19% [?]

The Importance of Optimism

Overview

• Our attitudes determine the way we sell
• Optimism if the key to sales success
• Optimists have the mental toughness to stay confident and persistent in the face of adversity.

Our attitude to life - the way we view the world mentally - is the most important determinant of sales success. One Harvard Business School study found that there were four factors critical to sales success: information, intelligence, skill and attitude. When the factors were weighed for importance, information, intelligence and skill added up to just seven percent of sales effectiveness. Could it be that ninety-three percent of sales success comes from attitude?

Our attitude towards a challenge can certainly make it easier to handle or impossible to deal with. You can see situations as opportunities or failures. our attitude can calm us down, or stir us up.

Our attitude can affect the way we experience pain. Psychologists tell us, for example, that soldiers wounded in battle report feeling less pain than civilians who have suffered the same injuries.

Why is this? In theory, the same wound should produce the same pain. the answer lies in the different attitude of the two groups to the wound.

Soldiers often view the wound positively. A soldier thinks, “Great, I’m leaving the battlefield and I’m still alive.”

A civilian typically views the wound negatively. the civilian thinks, “This is terrible, I nearly got killed. And now I have to spend weeks in hospital.” “What terrible luck,” the civilian bemoans. “how unlucky can you be?”

The civilian expects continued health not a sudden need for hospitalisation. therefore the civilian feels anxiety rather than relief, and anxiety increases pain.

Two ways of looking at the world

essentially there are two ways of viewing the world: optimistic and pessimistic.

When your are optimistic and expect success you transmit a positive attitude. When you are pessimistic and expect failure, your attitude is usually negative.

Two ways of thinking

Pessimist                                                 Optimist

It cant be done                                     It’ll be a challenge

It will  never work                                We’ll give it a try

Its too difficult                                     Lets try a different way

We’ve never done this before               We have the chance to be first

Its good enough                                   Everything can be improved

Our customers won’t buy this               We have to educate our customers

It’s not my job                                       I welcome new responsibilities

Its against policy                                  Anything’s possible

Its not going to be any better                Let’s try one more time

There’s not enough time                        Let’s recheck out priorities

Its too radical                                        Let’s be bold

We can’t compete                                  Let’s find a new way

No one else does this                           Let’s be leaders not followers

No I can’t                                              Yes I can!

Optimists Persist

Optimism produces confidence and persistence. history is littered with stories of highly successful people who persisted in spite of overwhelming obstacles and setbacks.

One of the remarkable examples of persisting in the face of repeated knock backs is Abraham Lincoln.

He lost his job in 1832.

he was defeated for the legislature, also in 1832.

He failed in business in 1833.

He was elected for legislature in 1834.

He suffered the loss of his sweetheart, who died in 1835.

He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1836.

He was defeated for speaker of the state legislature in 1838.

He was defeated for nomination in Congress in 1843.

He was elected to Congress in 1846.

He lost his renomination for Congress in 1848.

He was rejected for the position of land officer in 1849.

He was defeated for Senate in 1854.

He was defeated for the nomination for Vice-President of the United States in 1856.

He was defeated again for the Senate in 1858.

Abraham Lincoln was elected for President of the United States in 1860.

Popularity: 22% [?]