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Attitudes Impact Upon Sales Performance!

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In 1910, Professor William James of Harvard University first recognized scientifically that for all of the differences among human beings, we each maintain 100-percent control over one factor in our lives. Many denounced what he reported and many disliked the label affixed to it. In the 1940s and 1950s, another American psychological giant, B.F. Skinner, conducted additional studies to determine whether James’s findings were accurate; Skinner verified the earlier results. Again, others refuted the findings, based on a dislike of either the two individuals or their studies. Ironically, the opposition was actually validating the findings. Today, the torch is carried by Dr. Albert Ellis and Dr. Martin Seligman.

With nearly 100 years of scientific research and data, it is amazing that so many people still challenge the findings.

What were the findings? What distinguishes humans from other living beings is that we each have the ability to control our own minds, and our minds dictate our behavior. Another way of saying it is:

“Attitude is … the internal voices in our head; it is how we talk to ourselves, which influences how we will either respond (logic based) or react (emotion based)!”

Or, more analytically, “Attitude is … the mental regulator that allows the Neocortex and Limbic System the ability to talk with one another.”

As reported in “Professional Selling Power” magazine, a staple among professional salespeople for decades, reports that a sales professional can increase his selling proficiency 100 percent, by:

  • 1. Having a selling system that works can increase sales effectiveness and net results by as much as 30 percent.
  • 2. Following a selling program or process can increase selling effectiveness and net results by as much as 20 percent.
  • 3. Maintaining a positive mind-set or attitude has an impact on your perspective and personality, and can influence your selling effectiveness and net results by as much as 50 percent!

As a sales professional, you can increase your effectiveness and bottom-line results by removing all barriers, people, challenges, and self-defeating internal dialogues that are negative to a positive attitude and creating an atmosphere that is most conducive for positive behaviors.

Think about this, can you recognize how you feel emotionally and intellectually after a great sale? How do you feel when you feel appreciated by others? How do you tend to act in those situations?

How you mentally see yourself or a situation sets off a series of mental dialogues with yourself (internal voices). These dialogues stimulate you to act or react as you do. Look at this phenomenon further. Consider how you get to work each day, who you interact with at work, and what tasks you work on first and last each day. Psychology refers to each of these as a stimulant. It is the stimulant you are subjected to that influences your mind-set. How you interpret a stimulant influences your thinking, and that in turn influences your behavioral response or reaction.

Sales professionals must realize that how they see a situation, outcome, and people influences the interpretation and influences their ability to effectively execute each of the five steps to selling. Studies show that:

Activating Event + Attitude (mind-set or interpretation of event) / Behavioral Response = Outcome

To ensure greater positive outcomes, realize that how you manage the stimulant will influence both your mind-set and the prospect’s or customer’s mind-set.

One powerful way to recognize this is to inventory who you hold in your inner circle of confidence. Master sales professionals can trace their successes to many influencers, and among those are the positive-minded individuals they interact with, both at work and at home.

In the 1940s and 1950s, one of the most powerful sales professionals in America was an insurance salesman named W. Clement Stone, who went on to head a multibillion-dollar firm. Mr. Stone called these positive people influencers his “Mental Board of Directors.” Remember the childhood adage: Birds of a feather flock together!

A positive attitude can enhance an already successful day and neutralize a poor day. Attitude influences the performance of every sales professional.




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