Selling with a Passion

If the eyes really are windows into the soul, you could probably look inside any superstar athlete, top salesperson or overachiever in any field and see that they all share a passion for what they do. Passion can not only help motivate you to make calls and close sales day after day, it can also fuel your desire to improve consistently – all of which help guarantee your success.
Even if you think your passion for selling has gone on a permanent vacation, don’t despair. Use these guidelines to bring back your love for selling, and you may find that your passion shows in your profits.

1. Take pride in your product.
If you don’t feel good about your product, you can’t expect your prospects to feel good about it. Showing honest enthusiasm for your product helps your customers feel more comfortable about buying it. Also, your presentation will gain credibility if you can say you own your product and use it yourself. Tell prospects how you’ve used it and how it’s helped you. Collect testimonials that will not only help you sell to new customers but will also remind you of your product’s value and the number of people who enjoy it. Strengthen your presentations by thinking of new applications for your product and submit ideas on how your company can make it even better.

2. Let your passion show.
Enthusiasm is contagious, and when yours rubs off on your customers, you may get the sale as a result. Have your presentation videotaped, then analyze your performance. Do you look as though you really believe in your product and are excited about sharing it? Infuse your voice, gestures and facial expressions with enthusiasm. Spice up the language of your presentation to grab and keep the listeners’ attention. By studying famous speakers like Zig Ziglar and Tony Robbins, you can find out how to make your own presentations more compelling and use them as an outlet for your selling passion. Chances are, the more you let your passion show, the more you’ll feel and the more you’ll sell.

3. Believe in yourself.
Even if you’ve never been a selling dynamo, that doesn’t mean you don’t have what it takes. Whatever’s holding you back might be easy to fix with a good training course, a motivational tape or some encouraging words from your manager. Watch out for negative and self-defeating thoughts – to change the way you feel about yourself for the better, you have to change the way you think for the better. Think about the things that make you feel bad about yourself and what you can do to change or learn to accept them. Everyone is subject to disappointments and setbacks, but you have the power to decide whether to learn from them and move on or to give up.

4. Rekindle the passion regularly.
You can’t expect your enthusiasm to remain strong indefinitely. Like a battery, you have to recharge it once in a while. Watch out for selling slumps, rude prospects and other influences that can put your passion on the back burner. When you have a demotivating day, turn up the volume on your positive self-talk and refuse to let the problem get the best of you. Treat yourself to a seminar or speech by a famous motivational personality. Set goals and review them often as a reminder of the rewards for passion and persistence. Leisure time is important to help you maintain passion for your work, so make time to spend with family and friends to avoid burnout.

5. Surround yourself with passionate people.
In your personal as well as your professional life, seek out people with a passion for living and selling. Ask them how they stay motivated and try the techniques you think will help you. When you do have to be around negative people, don’t allow their comments to sap your enthusiasm. Tell them to look on the bright side and offer some words of encouragement to give them a lift – an investment in the attitudes of those you work with is an investment in your own positive outlook.

When your heart isn’t in your sales, you can’t expect to find success there either. Serious sales success requires the kind of long-term motivation and commitment to selling that often comes only from having a passion for it. To make sure your love for selling thrives, guard it carefully and feed it well – the more it grows, the more your sales will too.