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Attitude, Belief, and Confidence...the ABC's of Sales

Written by: Keith Benton

Article Overview: I once believed that in sales, if I could just learn that one killer closing statement, that one closing technique that worked every time, all my troubles would be over. Unfortunately, that statement and that technique do not exist. Don’t get me wrong; there are proper techniques that are extremely helpful in the sales process. Proper sales skills cannot be discounted. However, the three areas that will outshine rusty or nonexistent skills are the ABC’s of sales; and the lesson I quickly learned was that there is a balancing act.

Attitude, Belief, and Confidence...the ABC's of Sales

I once believed that in sales, if I could just learn that one killer closing statement, that one closing technique that worked every time, all my troubles would be over. Unfortunately, that statement and that technique do not exist. Don't get me wrong; there are proper techniques that are extremely helpful in the sales process. Proper sales skills cannot be discounted. However, the three areas that will outshine rusty or nonexistent skills are the ABC's of sales; and the lesson I quickly learned was that there is a balancing act.

The ABC's of sales consist of three attributes: Attitude, Belief, and Confidence. Remove any of these three and success in sales will quickly dwindle. Attitude is probably one of the most important attributes to possess in the arena of sales and is the one that can quickly sink a fledgling sales person or a seasoned veteran. You may ask yourself, "What does a proper Attitude have to do with the sales process?" The equation is quite simple and yet still complex... our thoughts control our Beliefs. Earl Nightingale once said, "We become whatever we think about all day." Our thoughts control our Beliefs. Our Beliefs affect our expectations. Our expectations affect our Attitude. Our Attitude affects our performance, and our performance affects our life.

Think of it this way. You have an appointment with a potential client. Your thought is, "I am going to gain a new client today." What is your Belief? You are getting a new client. What is your expectation of how the call is going to go? Great! What will your Attitude be? Upbeat... the Mojo is working. How will this affect your performance? Your Confidence has already assured you a win before you ever darken the potential client's door.

Now let's reverse the Attitude and see the potential outcome. You have an appointment with a potential client and your thought is, "This individual is just like all the rest and probably only going to waste my time." What will your Belief be? Another blown appointment. What will your expectation be? Zippo, nada, once again. What will your Attitude do? Sink like a one egg pudding. How will this affect your performance? You will probably greet the potential client with a smirk that says, "What's your problem? I know you're not buying anything today!"

What is the difference between the two scenarios? Attitude. If you believe you will win, you will win more often than not. Zig Ziglar calls a negative Attitude stinkin' thinkin'. It is prevalent in a great deal of sales people and can quickly infect an entire team. A positive Attitude alone is not going to guarantee a sale; however, it is a huge contributing factor to the overall success of the sales person. Attitude can make or break a sales team or an individual and must be evaluated on a regular basis.

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  Beliefs And How They Limit Your Potential
  How to Create a Winning Attitude in Your Business

Article Tags: abc, appointment, attributes, balancing act, confidence, earl nightingale, expectation, mojo, nbsp, proper attitude, sales person, seasoned veteran, strong belief, strong sales



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Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional - Hi Evan, I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing
Re: THE SECRET TO SUCCESS IS ALL IN YOUR HEAD...RIGHT NOW!!! - Yes, you are right Mal. Attitude plays a big role in it. Robert
Re: Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional - [quote="ltrahan":31w9r2iz]Hi Evan, I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing[/quote:31w9r2iz] I second the request...
My reading log - Hi OmnivoreInk, Before starting my business, I read the following books as research: -"The Art of the Start" by Guy Kawasaki -"The AdSense Code" by Joel Comm -"Don't Think Pink" and "Mind Your X's and Y's" by Lisa Johnson And since then I've continued my "research" by reading (in this order): -"Technical Tennis" by Rod Cross -"For One More Day" by Mitch Albom -"The Twits" by Roald Dahl -"Little Black Book of Connections" by Jeffrey Gitomer -"The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne -"The Profitable Retailer" by Doug Fleener -"Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell -"Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude" by Jeffrey Gitomer -"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" by C.S. Lewis -"Little Green Book of Getting Your Way" by Jeffrey Gitomer -"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling And I'm currently reading and am in the process of finishing the following: -"There's No Such Thing as Public Speaking" by Jeanette and Roy Henderson -"The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell -"The Book of Tells" by Peter Collett -"Little Red Book of Sales Answers" by Jeffrey Gitomer -"Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough: Reinventing The Customer Experience" by Jonathan M. Tisch -"The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity" by Julia Cameron -"The Inner Game of Tennis" by Timothy Gallwey
Re: What to do at the first roadblock? - Upon first discouragement, dig in and see if things are as they seem. Sometimes, even though there are several products out there that appear comparable, they are no match. Maybe they do don't a good job of what they are intended for, or maybe there are several glitches in their system, or perhaps their customer service just plain stinks. Decide how you can "one up" all of these things and decide that you are going to create a better product that more people would want. Attitude is 95% of the battle. If you feel defeated before you've done any research on any of the other products, you're doing yourself a huge disservice. Give yourself a chance and see if you can be the BEST in every way. This will get you far no matter what the venture.


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