Improve Your Emotional State!
The key to selling consistently at the highest level is the ability to change your emotional state into one that's well adapted to the needs of the customer. As I've explained in "How to Change Your Emotional State," to change your emotional state you must learn to change your physiology or your focus (preferably both). There are two types of techniques for accomplishing this:
- Long term techniques that create a favorable environment for a productive emotions. Example: working out and eating healthy foods.
- Short term techniques that create a quick (but temporary) burst of the productive emotion. Example: drinking a big cup of coffee.
I recently had a conversation about this subject with Jeff Keller, author of the bestselling book Attitude is Everything. (He uses the term "attitude" to encapsulate the concept of "emotional state" but it's really much the same thing.) He believes that most professional sales reps would be far more successful if they made three subtle, but long-term, changes in their daily "work ritual." These changes alter your focus and hence create a better environment for the productive emotions that will help you sell:
- Start each day with at least 15 minutes of positive input. The idea here is to create a "library" of positive thoughts in your head, so that you can draw upon them if the day doesn't go exactly as you'd prefer. He recommends reading an inspirational book as soon as you wake up, and spending your commute listening to motivational audio files rather than the news. If this is too much, consider investing in mp3 files of music that you find motivating and energizing. You can use such music on your iPod to "pump yourself up" right before your big meetings or to cool yourself down when things get challenging.
- Reduce your exposure to broadcast news media. Much of today's news programming consist of "if it bleeds it leads" stories followed by commercials offering some form of security or comfort. The idea is to amp up your fear/anger/frustration and then provide you an action, like buying "comfort food," which promises to relieve the pressure. This constant flow of negative imagery can actively create a negative attitude about life and the world, so it is best avoided. (My own technique: I listen to the non-commercial BBC news, as rebroadcast on NPR.)
- Avoid people who have a contagious negative attitude. You probably have one or more friends, relatives, or acquaintances who make you feel tired and drained. They always seem to have something sour to say; criticisms come to their lips far more quickly than compliments. Such people are toxic to your attitude (and hence to your success in sales) because, if they're not actively tearing down your enthusiasm, they're trying to think the same way about the world as they do. If you want to maintain a positive attitude, then sharply limit your daily exposure to such people.