How Motivation and Positive Attitudes Get Salespeople Through Tough Times

“Positive attitudes allow salespeople to benefit from motivation but they can’t nurture positive attitudes without strong motivation. These two are strongly related and mutually beneficial.”

The statement above is taken from this article. You also can find more articles about motivation here and there.

What Is Positive Attitude?

To put it simply, positive means good and you can say it is the opposite of negative. If salesperson have a positive attitude about hitting sales target, for instance, they are more likely to hit the target compared to having negative attitude about it.

It means being optimistic about any situation they’re in, any interactions and about themselves. They remain hopeful and see the best even in difficult times.

Being positive is practicing or having the tendency to be optimistic in life. When salespeople are positive, they often engage in positive thinking, have positive emotions, and take on positive behaviors like kindness and gratitude.

Some experts believe that attitudes comprise of up to three components which are cognitive, emotional and behavioral. Here are 5 examples of those positive attitudes:

• Shifting to more empowering viewpoint
• Smile and be kind to others
• Put self-compassion into practice
• Not taking things personally
• Feeling happy for the success of others

 

In short, you can put attitudes into these general types:

• confidence, optimism, sincerity, and reliability are traits representing positive attitude
• hatred, pessimism, resentment, and doubt are traits representing negative attitude
• indifference and detachment are traits representing neutral attitude

 

Why Positive Attitude Important for Salespeople?

Attitude is important for salespeople because it influences their ability to move through the world. For example, by maintaining positives attitudes, they help sales people achieve measurable success in their personal and professional life.

Positive salespersons have more energy, and they possess more self-confidence and they are more hopeful. Due to these, they tend to set higher goals and put in more effort to reach their goals. They are more resilient too, and that helps them bounce back and keep on going despite the setbacks.

With positive attitudes, salespeople are more alert, experience lesser stress, having lower risk of depression or other mental health issues. How would one life look like with lower risk of mental and physical illness? The primary outcome that tops them all? They have higher probability to live longer.

Research is beginning to expose that positive thinking is much more than just being happy or demonstrating an optimistic attitude. Positive thoughts can actually produce real value in life and help build skills that last longer. Sounds a lot like sales, right?

How do Salespeople Show Positive Attitude?

For a salesperson, showing the appropriate dose of attitude means demonstrating the correct body language, so that prospects or customers got the message, like…

1. Crossing their arms across the chest
2. Rolling their eyes as a way to express irritation towards the other person
3. Making eye contacts are good ways to show attitude

 

They can also show a positive attitude through the words they use. People avoid negativity and they are drawn to positivity. Salespersons positive attitude at work allow others to feel comfortable approaching them with questions or asking for advice. You can quickly build rapport and make an ally with many prospects and customers which will be viewed as an excellent quality.

Who Is the Positive Salesperson?

A positive salesperson focuses on what's good in life, finds joy in the simple things, and takes the general attitude that while there are many things they can't control directly, they can always directly control what they choose to focus on.

An upbeat salesperson thinks the best possible thing will happen and hopes for it even if it's unlikely to happen. If a salesperson sees a glass as half-full when others see it as half-empty; if they look on the bright side of things, they're optimistic.

Having a positive mental attitude is searching for how something can be done rather than saying it can't be done. The problem with positive thinking as a method is that it functions at the superficial level of conscious thoughts. It does nothing to contend with the subconscious mind where negative self-talk and limiting beliefs reside. If you've tried thinking positively, you know that it can be a tough habit to sustain.

How Do Salespeople Stay Positive?

For salespeople to be and stay positive requires skills. If they are skills, they can be learned and improved. There are people who seem to have a natural gift for positive thinking but for many, nurturing thinking, speaking and acting in positive ways involve strong effort and the payoff is worthwhile.

The first step for those who want to develop positive attitudes is actually to accept one crucial truth and that is: we won’t always do well at everything we do. But that’s OK. We just need to move on and we …

Start every day on a positive note

Celebrate the small successes

Identify and acknowledge all the efforts

Communicate in positive language

Treat others with empathy and kindness

Come up with fun initiatives

Make a constant determination to stop complaining

Evaluate your present attitude and identify what to change

Do self-check, identify your areas of negativity and develop the desire to change

Embrace and open yourself humor

Establish a healthy lifestyle and develop good habits

Find, spend time and surround yourself with positive people

Change your thoughts and practice positive self-talk

Take responsibility

Focus on the good things

Practice gratitude and keep a gratitude journal

 

Conclusion…

Positive thinking is an emotional and mental attitude that focuses on the good and expects outcomes that bring the salespeople benefits. It's about anticipating happiness, health and success instead of expecting frustration, illness and failure.

Attitude is a way of looking at or viewing one’s life. This is why attitude, for some, has been defined as the "command center" of our life. Our attitudes are our decisions, and they are learned behaviors regardless if we’re in sales or not.

When salespeople develop positive attitudes, they’ll start feeling better about themselves. They’ll treat themselves with more respect and love, and this results in a boost to their confidence levels and inner strength. They will always ready to take on new challenges and to come out of their self-limiting beliefs especially during this tough times.