Happy New Year, and let’s get ready to make 2015 the best year of your life!
My name is Mike Marchev, and I will be providing your daily “whack-in-the-head” for the next 12 months with one, and only one, objective in mind. Some of my messages will be longer than others. Some will be quick and simple. They will involve sales, marketing, customer service, motivation, and at times, daily observations. As many of you who know me have come to realize, I often take a circuitous route through my writings. So, stay with me. They all will come with a message. And they will all come with an invitation to reply back to me with your thoughts, feelings, issues and concerns. Let’s have fun introducing our travel expertise to the world. And, as the popular saying goes, “Let the games begin.”
First, you have to get your thinking straight. I have always been fascinated by the olé “placebo effect”. This is where, say, 100 patients are given a white pill to cure a medical problem. Fifty of those patients get the real medication, while the other fifty get nothing more than a white powder (the “placebo”). Yet, some significant percentage of the placebo group (sometimes more than half) will show symptom relief or even be cured.
This proves, beyond any doubt, the staggering importance of the mind and a person’s attitude. If a positive attitude can cure a medical problem without any medicine, what can it do for a “sales” problem?
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So, let’s tackle some of the more common problems relating to attitudes found among most salespeople today… attitudes which can have unintended, destructive consequences on your sales effort and client relationships. I do not like to dwell on negatives, and sometimes it may seem like I am; unfortunately, that comes with the territory when pointing out problems. Remember, we are trying to deal constructively with mental processes, which may need some adjustment and realignment for the sake of a sales career. We are not judging people.
Your Mission is to Not Change the Attitude of Others
Have you noticed any associates or prospects who walk around day in and day out looking as if they have just lost their best friend? These people seem to communicate to the world that life is, and always will be, a unfair experience. Daily existence appears to be a total drag to them—life offers nothing to them in return of their “showing up”.
If you happen to know one or more of these people (and I’m betting that you do), let me suggest that you avoid trying to improve the lot of anyone trying to engage in a continuous exercise of self-pity.
Don’t think for a minute your job is to get these people singing from the right side of the page. Your job is to get your thinking straight, in gear, and firmly positioned for greater things to come.
There is truth in the saying that the body follows the head. Get your thinking right and your actions will follow, accordingly. It is also important to keep in mind that the mind quits first. This was one of the key lessons I learned while training for the Ironman Triathlon competition back in 1996. Train your mind first, and the rest is easy. Believe that you are about to make 2015 the best year of your life. This will not be by accident. You are about to make it so.
Tomorrow, I will give you some more to think about.
Mike Marchev has been sharing his views with travel industry professionals since 1982. His popular sales book, “Become the Exception”, is in its 3rd printing. Be sure to ask about his Sales & Marketing Online Club. You can reach Mike at mike@mikemarchev.com.
