Entering the Sales world is a lot like engaging in a boxing match. How do you make your emotions work for you?
Knowing Your Opponent
For many in Sales, stepping into a sales opportunity is like stepping into a boxing ring. You’re going to be throwing punches, ducking and weaving — avoiding blows that could disable you or knock you out. The goal is to remain focused at all costs, not lose your nerve, and engage every tactic at your disposal to win.
Emotions are actually involved in a sale from the very beginning, even before you are. People inquire about your product or service in the first place because of an emotional response. The first act in establishing a seller-buyer relationship is fully understanding the emotions connected to the buyer’s issues, because their emotions will guide you all the way through a sale.
The Emotions
Fear
A lesson we can learn from Muhammad Ali is a very profound one: It isn’t the fear that you feel, it’s what you do with it that matters.
Anger
Anger can certainly be justified. But even in dealing with something or someone that makes you justifiably angry, if you don’t pull yourself out of it to some degree, you’re not going to be able to communicate rationally on the subject, or deal squarely with the situation.
The opposite of anger would be best be described as empathy. When you’re lost in anger, a person is deliberately not engaging in empathetic thoughts or behavior, and in fact is refusing to do so. In empathy, you reach out, strive to understand, and to some degree identify with other people.
Sadness
Sadness is another emotion we all experience sometimes. Despite our best efforts, it’s going to happen; it’s a part of life.
What might be the opposite of sadness? Most would probably say happiness. For a salesperson happiness might accompany a won deal, or perhaps even the completion of a stage of the sales process.
The Power of Nurturing the Positive Emotions
What about positive emotions such as joy? Believe it or not, they require as much care as the negative ones, maybe even more.
Download Emotions in Sales now.
Comments (5)