. . . fyi . . .
Here is an article I found interesting and worth reading on Zig Ziglar's website. Please enjoy!
Mike
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Sales
Of all the occupations on earth, with the possible exceptions of psychiatry, counseling, and the ministry, surely the sales profession is the most demanding as far as the maintenance of the right mental attitude is concerned. In many ways your attitude in selling is even more important and at greater risk than the other professions mentioned, because in those cases the “prospects” generally come looking for help.
In the sales profession we seek our prospects, and many times our calls come at inopportune times and are often made on people who are not always excited about seeing us. Now add the fact that many do not feel a need or have an interest in what we are selling, and the stage is set for a fairly high “turndown” rate for discussing our goods and services—much less for doing a full presentation. When this process is repeated a number of times each day, the salesperson runs the risk of having their ego seriously damaged to the degree that a poor or negative attitude becomes a major problem.
How can you inoculate yourself and protect against the wrong attitude? Truthfully, there is no way you can completely build an armored shell to totally protect against feelings of frustration, disappointment, and fear. If you could, you would not be a very successful salesperson. The reason is simple: You and I are “emotional” people and “feel” a full range of emotions. If we didn’t feel disappointment when a prospect refuses to take action on the “greatest product on the face of the earth,” we couldn’t feel enthusiastic about what we are selling. The same “feelings” that lead to excitement lead to disappointment. To be successful in selling, we must have the capacity to feel both “up” and “down.”
Since we are not immune to those “down” feelings, the question is, What can we do to limit their frequency, length, and severity? Taking control is important because our attitude determines how many calls we make, when we start, how we finish, and the results we obtain each day.
With emotional health secure you need to look next at keeping your mental health in the proper focus.
Question: Have you ever gone to a movie and laughed? Question: Have you ever gone to a movie and cried? The odds are at least four thousand to one that you answered yes to both. Next question: Do you really believe you felt those emotions because of something they put in the seats? Or was it because of something put on the screen that went into your mind and in turn affected your thinking and your emotions? What you put into your mind does have an impact on you. Fortunately, you can choose what you put into your mind.
Your attitude is important, so we need to carefully look at what we can do to avoid “stinkin’ thinkin’,” which ultimately leads to “hardening of the attitudes.”
At this point you should be thinking to yourself, “Okay, Ziglar, what can I do within my own limited time frame to maintain that positive mental attitude so that I can treat my belligerent prospects as graciously as I treat my friendly prospects? How can I be pleasant to my mate and children as well as my neighbors and casual acquaintances when I’ve had a tough day out in the field?”
The answer is simple but not easy: you cannot control the circumstances in your life, but there are many things you can do to control your mental attitude as you deal with those circumstances!
You begin by understanding this: You are what you are and where you are because of what has gone into your mind, and you can change what you are and where you are by changing what goes into your mind. In short, you choose what you read, listen to, and view.
