Proper Attitude For Sales

Let us proceed to a consideration of the psychology of the Meet and Greet. The most important thing at this stage is to arouse in your prospect’s mind a feeling of receptiveness. And the chief factor in success is a proper mental attitude on your own part.  What is a proper Attitude in the Meet and Greet? It is the Attitude which you should maintain throughout your working day. Its principal elements are Courage, Confidence, Self-respect, Poise, Clarity of Thought and Determination. These are to a great extent interdependent and their presence almost insures the related qualities of Geniality, Courtesy and Tact.
 
It has been said that the proper Attitude in the Meet and Greet is one which you should maintain constantly. The right time to assume it is the moment you hit the floor in the morning. Square your shoulders and with zest and zeal (not dread) begin your day. Enter the office with a cheery greeting. Go out to your first prospect with your mind well balanced, your faculties on edge and your feelings in tune with your work.
 
Let your mental Attitude manifest itself in your bearing and address. Look the part you wish to act. Take advantage of the law of reciprocal action and reaction between mind and body. It is one of the greatest agencies at your command and one of the most easy to put into operation. You cannot look jolly without feeling cheerful. You cannot feel depressed without looking glum. Try a simple experiment in this direction. Stand with your mind as nearly blank as possible. Turn your eyes upward. Within sixty seconds you find your thoughts elevated. Now look upon the ground. Almost immediately you feel a tendency to reverie. Now look sideways. Thoughts of distrust and suspicion intrude upon the mind. In these little tests you are employing the smallest set of muscles in the body. You may secure much more marked results by the employment of the larger muscles in more extended action.  Don’t wait until you are confronted by your task to get into the right Attitude. You can’t do it. The engineer doesn’t wait to begin getting up steam until he is on the track. He does that in the roundhouse, and when he is coupled to his train he is ready to pull out at full speed.
 
Now, a few brief remarks on the chief elements of the proper Attitude.
 
Fear or timidity is the least excusable of our failings. You are a business person meeting a prospect, that weather they realize it or not, needs your assistance. If you are doing your work honestly you are at least his equal. If you are doing it efficiently you are probably his superior. Remember, your errand is to do him an inestimable service. Keep these facts prominently before your mind’s eye. Get the right Attitude.  Timidity has a distinctly detrimental effect upon your work. It is instinctively associated in our minds with shame and weakness. The man who approaches us with embarrassment makes a disagreeable impression upon us. Why? Because experience has taught us that the man who addresses us in a shrinking manner is going to borrow money or say something which will be unpleasant to hear. Before you have got so far as to state your name, you have often created an adverse impression by an air of hesitancy and apology.  If you are afflicted with this failing you must overcome it.  Confidence is begotten of honest intention, consciousness of ability and conviction of the worth of the thing we have to sell. It is a great force in the Meet and Greet. The confident person is the personification of power. Instinctively we begin to let down the barriers at his approach. It is as though a pigmy should see a giant coming along with a large sign inscribed: “I am going to do something.” The little fellow-would say, “I don’t know what it is, but I have no doubt you will do it if you want to.” This is the chief asset of the best salespeople I have ever worked with. It opens doors and empties wallets for them. They take advantage of the principle of associated ideas and the fact that frank speech and an open manner are naturally suggestive of honesty.  Acquire Confidence by forming a solid substructure of efficiency for it to rest upon.
 
Of Self-respect I need say little. It depends upon inherent characteristics and acquired qualities. You cannot play a decent part without it. Foster it by every means in your power. Cherish it as your most valuable possession. Jealously guard against the least impairment of it. Bear in mind that this is entirely under your control. No one but yourself can injure your Self-respect. Another can arouse in you any emotion but one. He cannot make you feel mean. That feeling must emanate from some fault of your own.
 
Poise is one of the most impressive characteristics. The man who laughs unrestrainedly, talks excitedly or slops over sentimentally exhibits weakness. On the other hand, the man who seldom allows full play to his emotions and feelings suggests reserve force.  Clarity of Thought, which is, of course, the mother of clarity of speech, is constantly possible only to a well-poised mind. There is no more effective agency at the command of the salesperson than the clear expression of a well-defined thought. It’s most essential element is a thorough understanding of the product line and the car buying process. I can make a statement pertaining to a car deal more clearly than the greatest orator or the brainiest man alive, if he should be ignorant of the subject. And because my statement (though not as eloquently spoken) would penetrate your understanding farther than his, I would convince you before he would.  Spend no time in practicing rhetoric. Learn to think logically and honestly. Spare no pains in acquiring a thorough comprehension of your subject. And you may depend upon it that your presentation will be clear and forceful. That is true eloquence, regardless of the verbiage.
 
Determination is the quality of being earnest and decided; the resolve to accomplish a purpose. If you approach a prospect with an earnest Attitude and a decided resolve to secure a solution for his or her automotive needs, believe me, you will succeed more often than not. Objection melts away before a Determined Attitude. A thing willed is a thing more than half done.
 
Now let us take these qualities, combine them together in a seamless expression of ourselves. What is the resultant fabric? Personality. The Attitude of the salesperson should be an expression of his Personality. The Attitude of the salesperson should be indicative of the qualities we have considered. The true Attitude is a natural one. It follows that the Personality of the Salesperson must embrace Courage, Confidence, Self-respect, Poise and Determination.