Fire Up Your Sales With Enthusiasm To Burn!

“Selling is simply a transfer of enthusiasm from salesperson to customer.”

Despite it’s simplistic appearance, this is one of the most useful descriptions of the sales process I’ve ever heard. It says a lot about what it takes to be successful in selling and can pay huge dividends for entrepreneurs and sales professionals that take this message on board.

Enthusiasm is a prerequisite for sales success for two reasons. Firstly, selling isn’t easy. It involves many tasks that most people find highly stressful. Prospecting, networking, delivering presentations and “closing” deals, to name a few. Selling requires an incredible amount of mental, emotional and physical energy and huge amounts of enthusiasm are necessary to give you the energy needed to get those things done, even when you don’t feel like doing them.

And secondly, in sales one thing’s for sure… Genuine enthusiasm about your company, your job, your products and services, and most importantly, about helping your customers solve their problems, is absolutely essential if you want to deliver outstanding service and differentiate yourself from your competition. Think back to the last time you experienced truly outstanding service from a sales or customer service person. What was it about that person’s service in particular that was so outstanding? Chances are you remember them because they did something that exceeded your expectations – because their sheer enthusiasm enabled them to “go the extra mile.”

What comes first… Enthusiasm or Success?

The word enthusiasm comes from the Greek word enthous which means “inspired,” and inspired is exactly the way you feel when you harness that enthusiasm. You charge through your cold calls, presentations and proposals easily and effortlessly and you can’t wait to tell people about your product or service. To your customers you appear confident, helpful and friendly. In short, you’re unstoppable.

But while most people agree that enthusiasm is key, generating and maintaining that enthusiasm in practise is another matter entirely.

In sales, one of the biggest mistakes people make, especially after taking a few knocks, is that they start to believe that their enthusiasm relies on them being successful. For example they’ll say things like, “I’d be way more enthusiastic if I had met my target last month.” Or “If I could just make some money, then I’d get enthusiastic.” But unfortunately, unless you’re enthusiastic in the first place, you’re unlikely to experience any lasting degree of success.

Five ideas to kick start your enthusiasm So if you’re in sales it’s essential that you can take control and proactively generate enthusiasm instead of waiting for it to come to you. Just as an athlete has to ensure they’re in peak state for optimum performance, so too do professional sales people. So here are five practical ideas you can use to kick start your enthusiasm now.

1. Remember why you’re here.

Too often, after a few years of hard slog, the very passion, innovation and vision that started your business gets forgotten. Entrepreneurs, once totally consumed with enthusiasm for their new business, get worn down by endless setbacks and problems of day-to-day business, and they start to lose their spark. If this sounds like you, stop and ask yourself if you still really believe in what you’re doing and if the opportunity you saw when you launched is still driving you. Do you still really believe there is a genuine need for what you’re providing? If so what are 10 fantastic reasons people should be doing business with you and not the competition? Are you still 100% convinced? Because if you’re not, you can’t expect your prospects or customers to be either.



2. Create personal reasons for achieving sales goals.

In the end, motivation and enthusiasm come from within. Sure, you can listen to a motivational speaker, or do a team building session and get a momentary hit of enthusiasm, but as they say the test only begins when the going gets tough. You need powerful, personalised reasons why you absolutely must succeed and do whatever it takes to get the job done. But often your business or sales goals (usually only money related) aren’t enough. For instance, would you work harder to earn $200,000 this year, or to be an inspiration to your children or siblings? To turn over $1million this year, or to show your gratitude to the people who put their time, love and belief in you? To be successful in sales you need to learn how to use this type of leverage on yourself all the time. So take some time to come up with a powerful list of personal reasons why you absolutely must and will do whatever it takes to fulfil your goals.

3. Fake it until you make it.

This is the principle behind India’s fast growing Laughing Clubs where members meet with the aim of increasing happiness. At the beginning of each meeting they force themselves to laugh out loud for no reason at all until the laughter takes over and soon they can’t stop. So take a moment right now, put on your best, most enthusiastic face, start moving like you were the most enthusiastic person in the world, and greet the next person you see more enthusiastically than you’ve ever done before. Now keep faking it ‘til you make it!

4. Use anchors to change your state.

This is from the domain of Tony Robbins and other NLP masters. We all have unique anchors that trigger or cause us to feel a certain way. It’s your responsibility to find out what anchors you can use to trigger feelings of enthusiasm, motivation and confidence and to use them whenever you need to. For example, there may be a certain song that when you hear it totally pumps you up and puts you in a good mood. Or a picture, item of clothing or inspirational quote that causes you to feel completely unstoppable whenever you see, wear or read it. Whatever your anchors may be, find them, keep them on hand, and use them all the time.

5. Stop!

Now this one is so obvious it’s often overlooked. But maybe, just maybe, you’ve been working too hard for too long and you just need a break. Chances are you just need some time out to recharge, change your scenery and give yourself a chance to reflect on how far you’ve come. It’s a well known fact that taking short regular breaks, for example a three day weekend once a month, reduces stress, increases your energy and boosts enthusiasm. Now go to it!



Fire Up Your Sales With Enthusiasm To Burn! - To learn more about this author, visit Richard Liew's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends

E-Mail | Print | More

Related Articles
Enthusiasm
	Enthusiasm, Rocket Fuel for Achievement.
The Importance of Thanks
	It's hard to be gracious when a prospect tells you that you were not chosen for an opportunity or position you desperately wanted.
Your Life Might Be Unbalanced If...
	Living an unbalanced life doesn’t feel good. It feels tense, like you’ve got stress all the time…like you’re developing an ulcer, because you may well be. And it feels nervous and like something is missing. So ...
How You Can Recruit Sales Super Stars Part II How To Advertise and Interview Them
	Find out step by step how to create an advert and then interview sales super stars and deter the merely slick who have a great facade but who can't deliver.
Extreme Value Theory and Jeff Smith
	There is a intriguing story in today's San Diego paper about one Jeff Smith, a resident of Escondido, California. His house was about two miles from the further advance of the recent wildfires here -- and it was gut...

---

Related Forum Posts
	Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional
	Re: Forum Upgrade
	Re: Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional
	Practical Sales Advice
	Sales & Marketing Resources
	Take Some ACTION already!
	Re: Creating your own Advisory Board
	Sales advice from Jeffrey Gitomer