One of my personal goals for the year remains to spend as much time in the field as possible with at least 20% of our sales reps. The purpose of my goal is not only to stay in touch with, but also share the challenges experienced, lessons learned, and characteristics that enable the success of our sales team. The latest observation I made in the field is how a reps attitude is positively affected when they possess a sense of eternal optimism and how that leads to success with new products.
What exactly is eternal optimism? There’s a short story by Zig Ziglar, a renowned business author, about a wildlife organization that offers thousands of dollars in bounty for each live-wolf captured and turned in for relocation. There are two fortune hunting brothers who are very confident they will capture the most wolves due to their knowledge of the breed’s habitat. They spent days scouring the landscape, searching for wolves and came up empty-handed. They didn’t make a single sighting. One night they feel into a deep slumber only to wake to 50 growling wolves—angry eyes and bared teeth. One brother turned to the other and said, “Hey! We’re rich!” Now that my friends is the purist definition of eternal optimism! Ok, now you probably want to know what wolves, bounty hunting and optimism have to do with you and selling new products. Firstly it’s important to acknowledge all reps have the same issues with new devices: product performance issues, VAT committees, and competitive pressures. From my observations in the field, what sets the successful apart from the reps that aren’t quite there: they have passion, which I love. Their passion creates perspective and enthusiasm that are highly contagious. The successful rep enters a procedure with a new product expecting a favorable outcome; however sometimes things don’t go always as expected. Don’t get me wrong—the optimist is not in denial when things don’t go as planned; but the optimist will call it what it is, look for another opportunity, and get the surgeon to agree to use the product again. The eternal optimist will celebrate that she/he got the “up-front-contract” and scheduled another case. In other words, they see the opportunities in the new situation that is in front of them.
The eternal optimist sees the big picture; in a rep that equates to knowing the goal they are working towards will happen in one form or another. Like I mentioned the last week with celebrating your successes, the eternal optimist will celebrate the simplest of achievements as she/he works towards their goals. I hope you are an optimist, as pessimism will drain your passion dry. Love what you do, and why you do it!
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