Aspirations

You get what you expect.

It’s interesting how people respond when I tell them I work for a company that trains sales people. Almost always the conversation quickly leads to responses such as “Oh, you mean motivational stuff?” or “Yea, my uncle’s cousin is a motivational speaker as well.”

Why is it that selling is so closely tied to motivation in most people’s minds? If instead, I had said “We train people to drive trucks.” The response would not be “Oh, so you motivate people to drive trucks?” The difference is, selling involves working with people, with all of the rewards and frustrations that brings. When your livelihood depends on the behavior of other people it is important to understand people. An important concept to help you understand people is Pygmalion’s Principle. According to Pygmalion’s Principle, the most important person to understand just may be yourself.

Simply stated, the Pygmalion Principle means that what you expect comes across to others. The result of this taken one step further is you get what you expect. Your actions follow your beliefs. Henry Ford said it best “Whether you think you can or think you can’t – you are right.” Studies have been done; the theory has been tested and validated. There is no better way to improve your selling or negotiating ability than to improve your attitude and your beliefs. Pessimistic sales people seldom set sales records.

The biggest obstacle to achieving your sales numbers is to realize how your attitude affects your ability to sell, or as we like to call it, your aspiration level. The first step to improving your aspiration level it is find out what it is doing to you. Is it encouraging you or discouraging you? To find out, you have to listen to yourself. If you think it is hard to listen to other people – that’s nothing! Try listening to yourself. I mean really think about what you say to yourself – your inner most thoughts. How do they sound? Do you hear things like “He will never buy this because…” or “There is no way she is going to pay this price” or “I can’t make this quota. My boss is out of his mind.”

Careful! This is what sets your aspiration level, and I guarantee the people with whom you work and sell can sense the way you talk to yourself. So now you know how to identify what your aspiration level is, how can you improve it? Like the recovering alcoholic, the first step is to admit there is a problem. Then real change begins.

Take control of your thoughts. The next time you catch yourself thinking “The customer will never go for this” or “There is no point in calling on that company” or “I can’t do whatever” STOP! Stop right there and say to yourself “This can and will work, I just want to figure out how.” Think of three ways to overcome the challenge. It may take awhile, but over time you will achieve results. Methods to help you raise your aspiration level include:

• Review past successes with other customers. Why did things go well? How can you leverage those experiences to this current situation?
• Take a break, exercise. Get the blood going through your body. It will help you think and be more creative. It will also energize you and make you more alert.
• Get prepared. Many times we are negative because we are nervous or scared. Preparation is the best cure.
• Spend some time with the best sales people in your company. Watch what they do, say and think. Learn from them.

Do you have any other ways to improve your aspiration level? If so please share them with us in the comment section. We’d love to hear from you.

Listen to yourself. Do you encourage yourself or discourage yourself? Remember, you are in control.