Your Attitude is Contagious
If you are reading this, you are probably not a bare minimum salesperson, and you’re probably thinking of ways you will evolve as a salesperson this year. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of salespeople are not really interested in finding a better way to make sales. Instead, they would rather do a mostly respectable job, collect their pay, and move on. Since that is most definitely not you (am I laying it on thick enough?), you’ll appreciate where I am going from here.
I pay a lot of attention to my kids. Partly because I'm their dad and that's what I signed up for, but mostly because I think they're some of the most fascinating people I know. I love watching their minds work, the way they have ridiculous fun, and how they interact with other people. They've taught me a lot.
Perhaps the most significant thing I've learned from them is about their attitudes and their factory defaults for how they approach their day. They wake up happy. Positive. Curious. Optimistic. Downright goofy... I'd love to take credit for that, but they were born that way.
I think we all have those same defaults. So, what happened?
Somewhere along the way, they get beaten out of us.
"I don't wanna..."
"Work sucks..."
"Adulting is hard..."
I could go on, and you've heard them too. Hell, you've said a lot of them, and so have I.
The reality is, life is hard. Being 9 years old is hard. So is being 29. 39 is certainly providing its own unique challenges and lessons for me, but we all make choices. Between every stimulus and your response, there is a moment where you get to decide how to proceed. That's what you can't forget. That's what you cannot allow to be beaten out of you. You have a choice.
Yep, you can allow work to suck. Or you can take it as a challenge and recognize that there's a lesson that needs to be learned.
Sure, you can complain about how nobody will take your calls or return your emails. You can also start improving your phone skills and writing better emails.
You can approach a daunting project with dread and procrastinate. You can also remember the innate curiosity you had as a kid and approach that project with the optimism that you'll learn something you didn't know before.
When I tell you that I have fun selling... When I tell you that the butterflies in my stomach often excite me... When I tell you that I look forward to the difficulty of the project in front of me... This is where I'm coming from. This is why it's all worth it.
Every challenge presents an opportunity to learn, to succeed, and to grow. Quite frankly, that growth is what I believe we're all put here to do. I'll spare the metaphysics for a more appropriate discussion forum, but it is all relevant to the "we all make choices" part of the discussion here. Do you want to be beaten down and constantly disappointed? Of course not.
You have a choice… Turn away with things get tough or face the issue head on. Wouldn't you rather pick up that heavy rock (and even help somebody do it!) just to see all the cool bugs that might be crawling underneath it?
Two things are true...
Both approaches (choosing negativity or optimism) are contagious and metastatic. Everyone around you will catch on to your attitude, and it will spread like cancer. That can be great or it can be terrible.
Your customers will be acutely aware of your attitude (refer back to number 1).
The choice is yours. Choose to go out and be great. To be optimistic. To be creative.
Whatever you choose will be contagious.
Jeff Bajorek
Real. Authentic. Experience.
There’s a big difference between knowing how to sell and being able to. Jeff Bajorek spent over a decade in the field as a top performer. He’s been in your shoes. He knows what it will take. He can help you succeed.
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