I know we’re all busy, so I will get right to the point. Being optimistic makes you money. There is actually scientific evidence that optimistic sales people make more money than pessimists, or even “realists”.

One of the most compelling studies comes from psychologist Martin Seligman. About 5 years ago Martin was contacted by Met Life to help them solve a problem that they felt they had with sales turnover. Dr. Seligman convinced Met Life to give him access to their new sales candidates and administer their usual testing, as well as a new test he developed which measured, you guessed it, optimism. He followed the progress of the new sales hires for one year and found that salespeople who scored high in optimism sold 33 percent more insurance than those who scored low. After two years, the optimistic salespeople were thriving in their positions. Met Life experienced increased retention, decreased turnover, and increased sales.

So, now we ask ourselves… how many of our team members are making that additional 33 percent? Hint: This is kind of an all or nothing situation. This is because emotions are contagious, and unfortunately your local Walgreen’s doesn’t give a flu shot for pessimism. This is actually a proven scientific fact; the clinical term is emotional contagion or "the transmission of moods”. We are constantly communicating our mood to others, whether we are conscious of it or not, and whether that mood is happy, sad, positive, or negative. And unfortunately (or fortunately!), there is a trickle down effect. The owners attitude can and WILL effect the sales manager, who will effect the sales team, who will then in the end actually effect the CUSTOMER.

So, what does an optimistic organization look like anyway? Does everyone walk around with grins on their faces 24/7 and act like everything is perfect, regardless of the fact that the building is on fire? Not exactly, that would be more oblivious than optimistic, and we don’t want that. I do think that optimists share a couple of key traits though.

1. Optimistic salespeople are problem solvers. They go into a situation trying to understand how they can make it better, and then they immediately take action, which then produces results. They are also willing to turn most situations into a positive and BELIEVE that it is. What lesson did I learn from this? How has this made me better or stronger? And my personal favorite… Can I laugh about this? Because lets be honest, some of our funniest stories come from some pretty unfortunate situations!

2. Optimistic salespeople live by the five friend rule. Jim Rohn was quoted saying 'You are the average of the five people you most associate with’. He got this from the law of averages, which is the theory that the result of any given situation will be the average of all outcomes. We might interact with many people, but the few who are closest to us have the greatest impact on our morals and attitudes. Are the people around you having a positive impact on your daily life, and vice versa?

3. Optimistic salespeople know that they control the outcome. This is my personal favorite!!! Optimistic salespeople don’t wait for leads to come to them, they find new innovative ways to generate leads on their own. They don’t sit and complain about ‘how much the industry has changed’ like their competitors; they study the changes and figure out a way to use them to their advantage. They continue to learn and grow so that they are always a step ahead of their competitors. No one controls our future but ourselves. Isnt that why the best salespeople love their job? Controlling the outcome = controlling the commission.

The truth is optimism is a choice. It’s the belief that things will work out for the best, regardless of how the situation looks today. Everyone reading this can choose to wake up and make a positive change in their day and their business. So, which do you choose? Your answer just might end up making you 33% more!

Sales, Simplified.

Alex Taylor