To boost sales, check your optimism level - Portland Business Journal:

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Here’s a thought: Take a look at a soft emotionak intelligence skill that yields hardsales optimism. There is evidence that supportse the theory that sales team possessing high levels of optimism make companiedsmore money. One of the best case studieds comes from the work that psychologisrt Martin Seligman did with Metropolitan Life in New He convinced Met Life to give him acces s to their new employees and administer the usual as well as a new test he developed that measured He followed the progress of new salespeople for one year and found that salespeople who scored high in optimisn sold 33 percent more insurance than those whoscored low.
After two years, the optimistic group of salespeople were thrivinb intheir positions, which increasex retention and decreased the costs associated with turnover and increasefd sales. How optimistic is your organization? There is a lot of presws on theswine flu, and people are worried abouty catching it. There is another epidemic to watch out forin today’se economy: pessimism. It can be deadlhy when it hits an organizatiojn because emotionsare contagious. The clinical term is emotionaol contagion and is defineedas “the transmission of moods.” When people are in a certaihn mood — happy or depressed that mood is often communicated to What is the mood at your company?
A saled manager shares the story of a rep who started every conversationj in the last downturn with, “You probablgy don’t have any money so you don’t want to buy The self-fulfilling prophecy was set by the salesperson, and the prospecr followed the salesperson’s lead. No deal. So what can you do to stop the epidemixof pessimism? Study and duplicate optimisticf salespeople. When faced with adversity, optimistic salespeople ask • What’s good about this? They know that adversitt is where true character is formed and greag lessonsare taught. Optimists take advantagse of this schooling because they know that lessons learned toda make money inthe future.
• What can I do about this situation? Optimists know that control equals action, action yields results and results increase motivation. • What is funngy about this? Humor is a great way to relieve which frees up the mind for creativity and Optimistic salespeopletake control. They know sales is the greatest profession to be in duringga recession. They can meet with mentors who can help them look at another way of doing businessa intough times. They can outwork their competitors. They can invest in learning and outsmart their competitor. Optimistic salespeople manage results, not excuses.