YOUR ATTITUDE DETERMINES WHETHER CUSTOMERS BUY FROM YOU OR NOT

While great products can attract business, your attitude determines whether customers buy from you or not. In sales, you must make a commitment to first making sure you and your employees have a positive attitude before you focus on process or product.

Let me share with you a stellar example of a great attitude. I saw a beautiful jacket on display in a shop window and was so intrigued by it that I went inside to have a closer look. I asked the clerk the price, which she told me as she helped me slip the jacket on. Admiring my reflection in the mirror, I protested that the price was insane and added that I didn't even need the thing. With an understanding and beautiful smile, she said: "No one buys a jacket like this because they need it. They buy it because it's beautiful and it makes them feel good." Melting in the truth of her statement, I asked: "Do you take AmEx?"

The ability to be positive at all times is the one thing that will ensure you're a winner in the end. When you are positive, people will find you irresistible. Here are some helpful suggestions that I've used in my life when I wanted to make sure I had a beaming, positive attitude:

1. Visualize the deal first. You have to see the customer taking ownership before they do. The sale starts with you, not with them. I remind myself of this before I ever get in front of a customer. The way I do this is to talk in terms of when, not if. For example, "When you do this with me, you will get this result." If a customer is undecided about a sale, I tell them: "It's only a matter of time before you do this with me." I recently did this with a customer and after the third time he said: "Dude, you are pretty confident, I like how you keep assuming the sale."

2. Find out what the buyer has done in the past. This will always result in understanding how your prospect is a buyer. For example, I once asked a customer: "When is the last time you invested money in a product like this?" He told me about the three times he did this and then I asked, "What did you like and not like about each decision?" Every answer provided me with vital information - his buyer DNA, if you will - to make the sale.

3. Consider every customer a million-dollar sale. Treat people like millionaires and they will act like millionaires. Do this regardless of how the customer acts. One of my clients from Colorado Springs told me he would not spend money on my product and that it was a waste of time. I treated him like a millionaire and told him I wanted to fly into Colorado Springs and see him, regardless.

Nothing in your life will pay you more rewards than your ability to have and maintain a great attitude. People will remember you not for how much money you made or for your success, but for how you handled life and made others feel. Your attitude and your ability to have a positive influence on the attitudes of others will affect not only your sales, but every area of your life: your marriage, kids, health, wealth and luck. You name it, and a great attitude will affect it.