Whatever we do, whenever we interact with the world, we do so through our attitude, behavior and technique.
As managers, we must get to know our salespeople well enough to be conscious of how these three dimensions may appear to prospects and how they may affect the sales efforts of our salespeople. And that's not always easy. After all, when we attempt to understand any of these traits, we quickly move into the realm of psychology or the social sciences. But there's nothing to fear if we keep it simple.
Attitude often can be controlled and directed. But that requires people to explore the roots of their attitudes, and then take positive steps to banish negative feelings by focusing on the positive. As managers, you must encourage the spread of the positive roots, and "root out" all the sources of negativity.
Attitude influences people's choices in life. A positive attitude moves us toward a positive result, and a negative attitude toward a negative result. Even better, positive results lead to even more positive attitudes. Attitude, then, affects behavior.
Behavior is affected by other influences, as well. Some influences can be controlled, while others cannot. But we can't know what influences are controllable until we attempt to master our fate and consciously guide our behavior. Encourage salespeople to repeat positive behavior until it becomes habit.
Behavior is often the simple acting out of a role. But, again, we must try to control the performance. Help your salespeople determine who they want to be, then, encourage them to play the role until they become it. That's not masquerading; that's personal growth!
Technique, too, stems from conscious striving combined with unconscious impulses. But technique can be mastered even more easily than behavior, through training, observation, practice and mentoring. The sky's the limit with technique.
Technique can compensate for poor attitude and poor behaviors, but only to a very minor degree. A bad attitude and inconsistent behavior will torpedo even the most polished technique. All three aspects of our professional tool kit must work together for us to be complete and successful as sales professionals.
If we focus on attaining a positive set of attitudes; repeatable, systematic behavior; and consistent, professional technique, then over time we can ensure success.
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