I was crushed when my first selling mentor said, “Be the source of your own enthusiasm!”
It was so unfair! Where was the Fairy Sell-Mother? Where was the sparkle-dust that would jack me up? Where was the marching band? Slowly, the sad truth dawned: Not only might I wait forever for the Fairy Sell-Mother and her marching band–but it would serve me well in life, as well as in selling, to learn to generate my own enthusiasm.
That’s when I made up the Soul of Selling Chant.
Complaint to contribution!
Drama to dreams!
Struggle to service!
Reasons to results!
The Chant reminds me what I’m about, and puts whiny, dramatic, put-upon, arguing-for-my-limitations me back on track. It may sound silly, but my motto is: “Whatever works!”
WORDS TO LIVE BY
The Chant was created for selling, but of course it applies to every corner of life. It’s all about where we put our attention, and reminds us to switch from:
COMPLAINT TO CONTRIBUTION!
Negative mental chatter has a field day in the face of promises, goals, and commitments–all of which are essential in selling.
- “It’s so hard! I shouldn’t have to do this!”
- “I’m tired. I didn’t sign up for this.”
It’s so much easier to complain, but what we all really want to do is contribute. Bottom line, complaining is both unproductive and no fun. Contribution, focusing on others and how we can serve them, makes selling a lot easier and more pleasant.
DRAMA TO DREAMS!
Again, drama is easier: “Oh my God, this is impossible! I’ll have to stay up all night making calls!”
Drama is exciting, but it’s cheap thrills. In the end, it’ll kill us—or at least give us burnout. A dream, or getting the results we promise, is just as exciting—but in a positive way.
The switch from drama to dreams transforms us instantaneously from howling toddlers to smiling adults.
STRUGGLE TO SERVICE!
Isn’t selling, by definition, a struggle? No! The Soul of Selling method is designed to bring out the best in us as we sell, and to offer that to others along with our product or service.
When we’re struggling, we can’t serve people. All our attention is on ourselves. When that happens, it’s time to stop the music and switch channels. It’s time to think about how we can make people’s lives easier or better, rather than how hard our own lives are.
REASONS TO RESULTS!
My first sales mentor used to say, “You have your choice. You can have the results you want, or you can have the reasons why you don’t have those results.”
I hated it. Wasn’t she human? She just smiled at our ranting and raving. She knew it was true, and so did we. There are always reasons not to keep a promise. Good ones! But without the commitment to results instead of reasons, success is hit-and-miss.
Whenever I hear myself starting to form excuses on my mind—“I didn’t have enough time,” “There wasn’t enough market research,” “These prospects weren’t really qualified”—I see a red flag. Again, time to stop the music. What are the results I want? What’s the best way for me to switch to that channel?
In the end, we do get to choose:
- Complaint, drama, struggle, and reasons—or
- Contribution, dreams, service, and results
What do you do to make that switch?
