Friday, March 28, 2008

The Right Attitude in Sales

By Dean Arzu Algan

Your attitude toward yourself and your customers is critical to your success. Attitude influences our behavior and our actions, and ultimately defines what we can or cannot do. Once a negative attitude takes hold, success becomes an uphill battle. Much like a disease, a negative attitude can become a chronic problem, constantly eating away at your success. You become programmed to accept losing. Unless you break free of that cycle of negativity, you simply cannot succeed. Toward that end, it is essential that you leave personal and other problems at home. Customers don’t want to know about them – they want to interact with someone who is knowledgeable, and who exudes professionalism.

POSITIVE ATTITUDE

The power of a positive attitude must be realized. There is no other way to become a success, whether in sales or in any other endeavor. Think successful, become successful.

The individual who feels like a failure will find a way to fail. There is a definite relationship between positive attitude and accomplishments. Professional people cannot afford to give out negative energy. The more positive your attitude, the greater your prospects for achieving success. A positive attitude helps generate the energy to get things done. Attitude, like health and diet, can be changed. It can be improved.

Seek opportunities at every turn. If things do go wrong – and they sometimes will, it is the human condition – view them as a learning experience. In other words, strive to find a positive angle on what otherwise might be a negative (and destructive) incident. Keep striving for success, and realize that if you take two steps forward for every step backward, you are still making progress. Take pride in ethics and legal compliance. Exercise self-control. Your customers will appreciate it, your company will generate more business, and you’ll feel better about yourself.

AVOIDING A RUT

Human beings, by their very nature, are creatures of habit. Some habits, as we all know, are better than others. Often, the difference between success and failure are the quality of their habits. Think about it, and the kind of habits that will generate success.

Those who continually fail generally often find it difficult, if not downright impossible, to abandon the immediate pleasure bad habits may offer. Consequently, they have low expectations which they may or may not realize. Successful people have learned that they are responsible for their own success. They are willing to put their long-term goals ahead of short-term pleasures by cultivating proper habits. They strive to make each day – and each deal – count, even if the odds appear against them.

LISTENING WITHIN

Developing a good understanding of ourselves is an important phase of human growth and development. Self-awareness, a thorough understanding of our own identity, sets the stage for improved relationships. To become meaningfully involved with others and to make a positive impression we must have an awareness of self. Without first understanding the persona you current project, how can you change the way others perceive that persona?

Few people are aware of how they feel about themselves, of what is important to them, and thus are relatively unaware of the feelings of others. Individuals who are not aware of self tend to lack superior judgment and wisdom. When we discover that something we do bothers someone else, we have the option of altering our behavior. Greater self-awareness also improves our communication skills.

When faced with a toxic, unproductive outlook or negative habits, many people refuse to examine the source of their problems: themselves. Rather than undergo the sometimes painful process of introspection, they continue in their destructive practices. If you hope to succeed, you must avoid this trap. If you want to be successful, you must be willing to face the unpleasant possibility that you are the cause of most of your failures. Your courage will be rewarded with a greater insight into yourself, and, subsequently, a more successful career.

Excellent article.

AFI

Automotive News - With a Twist:
http://www.AutoIndustryNews.blogspot.com

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is a fantastic post!!! Thank you for the reminder of taking responsibility for self. Particularly in sales, this is critical and as an experienced automotive F&I manager, my most valueable learnings were those from self assessment. My father was in auto sales for some 30 years and always reminded me that annual business changes were nominal, something like 2% in those days and if I wasn't getting the results I wanted, I needed to check within. Painful at first but once we practise that consistently it's the fruits of our growth!