THOUGHTS, QUESTIONS AND FEELINGS
I went to an event recently and asked if anyone had an idea for this month's submission for the Business United. I had a number of people give me some ideas, but one really had an impact on me. A Financial Service Representative wrote this on the back of his business card: "I'm disappointed in the behavior of sales people which promote fear and distrust in prospective clients". Reading between the lines, I guess he must be meeting a lot of people who distrust sales professionals.
There were so many ways to go with this observation, but I've decided to use it to illustrate the power of our thoughts, questions and feeling. When this professional, who I know has a lot of personal integrity, wrote this note, he must have been feeling one or more of the following feelings: frustration, anger, despair, sadness, or some other feeling that we would consider to be a "downer".
There are two problems with this. First, a sales professional can't have any of the emotions of fear, frustration, anger, doubt, or any of the down emotions and be able to service their customers well. The customer can pick up on this emotion, and the sale doesn't happen, which feeds the emotion, which makes more sales not happen. Nasty cycle indeed! The second problem is that if they're having these thoughts, they're not looking for a solution.
Ask yourself these two questions, and compare what happens in your mind as you ask them:
"Why do so many sales people promote fear and distrust?"
"What can I do to help my prospective customers trust, really trust me quickly?"
Did you notice how the first question brought you down, while the second opened up a possibility to a solution?
Our experiences, our lives, our moods, our very existence depends on the thoughts that we have, the questions we ask, and the feelings we have as we think or ask them. I just read some research that the average person thinks between 12-50 THOUSAND thoughts per day! How many of yours make you feel good? How many make you feel bad? Let's try a couple of examples.
How do you feel as you ask yourself the following question:
Why am I so unhappy? (Notice how the answers take you backwards, looking for proof that you really are unhappy?)
Now how do you feel as you ask yourself this question:
What should I do so that I can really have a SUPERB weekend next weekend? (Did your eyebrows just shift up as you considered the possibility? - You're on the right track!)
What about these two thoughts:
I HATE going into the office day after day. (That would make anyone feel down!)
I can't wait to see what happens at the office today. (OK, so I'm stretching it a bit here. Just play along! Put your own positive thought in about your work.)
Last words - Watch those thoughts! Careful of those questions! Listen to the feelings from them! Guard them all.
Till next time,
Copyright 2005 Jerry Wistrom and All Out Coaching, LLC
All rights reserved.
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