You have a choice.
We all have a choice.
Every time we learn something, or decide something, we have a choice.
For example, as some of you may have heard me say at my speeches: When you attend a learning event, you really have two choices:
- How can I fit what I am learning here into my world, and figure out how to make this work for me?
- This is not for me. This will never work.
Henry Ford famously said, “Whether you think can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.”
Which means, if you believe that you can take what you hear at an event and apply it to improve yourself, or you work, you would be right, and you will do exactly that. This is what Carol Dweck calls a growth mindset.
Or, conversely, if you believe that what you’re hearing is nonsense, the boss paid for this workshop that we don’t really need – because don’t tell me how to do my job – then you would also be right. You won’t learn much, and you will apply nothing.
The fascinating thing to me here is that you’re spending your time at the event anyways. You have to be there. So why not look for ways to make it work for you, as opposed to actively resisting it?
Why not choose the option that helps you get better? It’s up to you!
And so, we all have choices to make.
We can choose, for example, to be optimistic that we will make a sale when speaking with customer, in which case we will have a real chance to do so.
On the other hand, we can decide to be pessimistic about making the sale. If so, I would bet my children’s’ college money that you won’t make that sale. (We’ve all received phone calls from salespeople who don’t believe what they’re selling. Do you ever buy from them?)
Who do you think performs better, optimistic salespeople, or pessimistic ones? (If you’re not sure, study after study finds optimistic salespeople significantly outperform pessimistic ones.
Since we get to decide our mindset going into the call, why not pick the one that’s advantageous to us? The one that can help us bring more money home to our families!
We also have a choice about whether we will sell in person or on the phone, or, because we fear rejection, to sell by email.
Which do you think is more effective?
Also: you can choose to actively, systematically ask for referrals on the phone and in person, or you can choose to shy away from them, because it might offend the customer.
Interestingly, customers love to give us referrals. It makes them look good to their friends and colleagues, and it puts us into their debt. A good referral brings glory from all sides for the referral giver. And yet, we usually choose to withhold this glory from them by not asking for the referral.
Same goes for testimonials. We can choose to ask for them, on the phone, regularly and consistently. Or we can choose to let our work do the talking, and keep the conversation focused on our products and services, as opposed to the great ways we help our customers. Which do you think is better for your business?
We have a choice about whether to ask for the business every time the opportunity arises, or to avoid doing so while hoping the customer places his money into our hand, closes our hand, and moves it for us into our pocket for us. Actively is always better. The customer has come to you. They’ve presented their problem. They’re interested in your help. And yet you choose to not ask to help them, and thereby you avoid helping your company and your family.
When you are avoiding something, ask yourself: is this helpful to me and my family, or harmful? If it’s the latter, why choose it? Are you more comfortable putting yourself into a position of disadvantage?
Many times a day, you have choices to make. One will help you and your customers and your employer and your family. The other will harm all of them.
Which will you choose?
Alex Goldfayn runs The Revenue Growth Consultancy, which helps companies and sales departments grow revenue quickly and easily. To discuss growing your business in this way, email alex@evangelistmktg.com or call Alex at 847.459.6322. His latest book, "The Revenue Growth Habit," was named the 2015 Sales Book of The Year by 800-CEO-Read. Buy it at Amazon.com here.
