I've been a salesman for a while, tried my hand at opening businesses, and have done all sorts of things to get by (legal, mind you, legal), and the problem I've run across in any field of endeaver is that magic word, motivation.

Now, what motivates me is not necessarily what motivates you, or your cousin Sally, or your boss Jim.  Motivation has a thousand faces, but a few are most common...

Well, for starters, how's this old one for starters: fear.  Fear of not paying the bills, fear of being broke, fear of being poor, fear of not looking cool because you don't have a shiny new car/house/wife/husband/whatever.  Hey, I'm not knocking it, but this isn't the most positive way of being motivated.  It's an "away-from" type of motivation.

The opposite is likely to be love: love of your product, job, new cars, family, whatever it is that keeps you going during the day.  Some of the love can even be for the sheer thrill of the battle, overcoming the objections, making the sale, being number one in your company, etc.  Some salespeople make tons of sales because they simply love to sell.  This would be a very powerful type of motivation, in my opinion, and one that drives my music; the sheer love of it.  It's a "go-toward" type of motivation.

But here's what I want to bring to your mind in these "terrible economy" type of times...

As a salesperson, new or old, YOU drive the economy.  The economy crumbles when people aren't buying.  People aren't buying because salesmen aren't selling.  It's truly as simple as that.  Sure there's fear and all sorts of negative emotions and motives to deal with while talking to the buying public!  It's your job to stay focused on your mission of personal excellence and improve your own lot so others can improve theirs.  I'm not telling anyone to take advantage of other people.

I'm telling you to take responsibility for your own person by first identifying your "why" (so to speak) and function from that angle.  If your "why" is fear of not paying bills, then run with it.  If it's love of being number one, then go for it.

Only you can understand your own motivators, not me, Tony Robbins, or anyone else.  If you make every sale a step toward (or away from in some cases) your motivator, then you will find selling much, much easier.

I hope this has been a help, and promise you that future posts will be a bit better thought out...

BY CS Rushing