Professional Sales Training:

Eleanor Roosevelt embodied the essence of enthusiasm when she stated, “The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for a newer and richer experience.”

The keys to success in sales are doing the job without fear and having a great deal of enthusiasm along the way. Following are three techniques to help you build and maintain enthusiasm in your sales job day in and day out:

1. Generating Enthusiasm in Yourself

The first step to building enthusiasm in yourself is to understand your own personal strengths and use them to your advantage in your job. Are you highly creative? Then, use your creativity to brand yourself in a way that sets you apart from your competition. Are you great at organizing and planning events? Plan an elegant dinner party for your top clients. If you are putting emphasis on what you do best, you will automatically generate enthusiasm in yourself.

However, we must also refine the skills that we do not enjoy doing. What do you hate doing at work? Why aren’t you fond of this particular task? The answer is most likely that you are not good at this task. I loathed final negotiations because I knew negotiating was not a strength of mine. To be successful, I decided I needed to refine these skills, so I enrolled in a class on negotiation skills. I left class feeling confident that I had some tools to improve my negotiating skills. If you can improve on your weaknesses, you will be more enthusiastic at work.

2. Building Confidence in the Product You Are Selling

In order to build confidence in your product, you must learn, prepare, and have follow-through. First, you must learn your market inside and out. It is vital that you understand what is important to your customers and how your product can meet their needs. What is your competition selling? What are selling points of your product? What trends are taking place in your industry? The more you know and understand, the more confident you will be at selling the product to your customers. If you have done your research and have prepared and refined the presentation of your product, you will project an image of professionalism to your customers, thus generating confidence in you as a sales representative and in your product. Finally, follow-through is crucial to maintaining that confidence you’ve won. Always take action on promises made to your customers. If you deliver on your promises, the customer will trust you and your product.

3. Creating Enthusiasm Among Your Peers

In The Joy of Working, Denis Waitley and Reni Witt state that "Enthusiasm is contagious. It's difficult to remain neutral or indifferent in the presence of a positive thinker.” Evoking enthusiasm among your peers will create a sense of unity in your shared efforts to generate revenue for your company. There are several ways in which you can generate enthusiasm among your peers and excitement for your customers—

a) Ask your customers for testimonial letters.

Encourage customers to share their enthusiasm for your product. First, this can help build rapport with your customer. Let them know that, as a respected business leader in your community, you value their opinion. Second, keep a repertoire of testimonial letters for your product because some customers feel more comfortable with a product they know has had proven success. Finally, share these letters with your peers to create a renewed excitement about your product.

b) Share success stories.

Success stories help reinforce your own confidence and the confidence your customers have in your product. It is recommended that you maintain a file of your success stories. These stories can be useful on a personal level to reinforce your skills to your employer. Sales can be a brutal business, so when your motivation or enthusiasm is fading, go back and look at the successes you have had in the past. Also, reinforce the successes of your peers. Shared success is key to maintaining enthusiasm in the workplace.

c) Smile.

If you are happy in the workplace, you are more likely to carry that happiness out into the field with you. It all starts with a smile. Even when you have a bad day, you will find that a smile will start to make you feel better. When you are smiling, people will respond to you more positively. Dale Carnegie said, “Act enthusiastic and you’ll be enthusiastic.”

By following these three guidelines, you will have greater success in sales. Embrace the words of Eleanor Roosevelt and dare “…to reach out eagerly and without fear for a newer and richer experience.”

Author: James A. (Jim) Baker
James A. Baker is the Chairman and Founder of Baker Communications. Baker is a sales training and development company specializing in helping client companies increase their sales and profits. He can be reached at 713-627-7700 or jim.baker@bakercommunications.com.