Selling in tough times. Session two: Attitude is everything
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% [?]
