What’s Your Reaction to These News Headlines?

What do you make of these recent newspaper headlines…?

The bad…
“Lending figures add gloom to concerns about economy ”
“Disappointing’ data add to economic gloom”
“Voters ‘Gloomy’ About Economic Prospects, Almost Half Believe Living Standards Will Fall By 2015”
“Industry survey confirms gloomy data”

And the good…
“UK business confidence ‘at six-year high'”
“Consumer confidence at three year high”
“Economy is the best in Europe! We’re leading the way, say experts, and will do until at least 2015”
“Economy set to surge ahead for rest of year”

Two different countries? No. You guessed it. Both set of headlines are from the UK newspapers. All of them are recent, genuine headlines.

Be honest, which list do you believe in the most?

Your answer will tell you a lot. Your answer will reflect your mindset. And it’s your mindset which will ultimately be reflected in your behaviour, your actions — and your results. If I went on to reveal that most of the positive headlines above were from the last month and most of the negative headlines were from earlier in the year, how would that change your thinking?

Well the general thinking is that after a long wait, the ‘recovery’ is on its way. The pace of recovery may not be as fast as we’d like, but then again many of those ‘in the know’ suggest a slow-but-sure sustainable recovery would probably serve us all better in the long run.

The big question is… How ready are you and your team for the economic recovery?

I’m not talking here about whether your building is big enough. Or whether you have enough staff. Or whether you need to upgrade your IT.
My interest is in your mindset.

So…when you really give it some thought, how ready are you for take off?

How confident are you in your ability to make this recovery work for you?

How confident are you in those around you?

What do you believe, deep down, about your ability to make those calls, produce those fabulous proposals, give those killer pitches, attract those customers, close those deals?

What about ‘The Others’
If you have other people you rely on in your business to generate sales, how ready are they, mentally, to generate the leads, sales and conversions you need them to achieve to succeed?
Is your current thinking based around the economic circumstances you’ve found yourself in over the last five years? Or the circumstances you’ll be finding yourself in during the next five?

And what are you doing all this for? Seriously?

Remember, if the answers to that question aren’t compelling enough for you, deep down you’ll probably never give it 100% and you’ll probably not get the sales success you deserve. It’s that important.
If you really feel you and your colleagues have a “100% ready mindset” — ready to maximise the coming recovery, ready to rumble (!) then give yourself and them a pat on the back – and get stuck in!

If you’re not ready, there’s still time. If you’re nervous, there are things you can do. There’s action you can take. Resolve to take it. You’ve just survived one of the worst recessions probably in your lifetime. Make sure you’re ready for the good stuff!
Think about where you need the most help. Is it your confidence? Your fear of selling? Your motivation levels? Your resilience? Challenge yourself to get what you need to fill those gaps.

If you do nothing, where will that leave you? As they say…you’re worth it.

And as I say…it’s all about the psychology of selling…

Be ready.

Until next time

Leigh