Sometimes a great day sneaks up on you when you didn’t even know you were having a bad one. This is exactly what happened to me a few weeks ago when I received a phone call from a long-time customer. He called to tell me how much he loves working with us and wanted to take a moment to let me know that he appreciates the work we do for him.

My spirits were instantly lifted and I felt like I was on top of the world. The funny thing is that I didn’t realize I was having a bad day until his call lifted my spirits so dramatically. The rest of my day was wonderful. I was more productive and effective with everything I touched. Capitalizing on my good spirits, I finished projects that had been lingering for weeks; called prospective clients, closed deals and everything seemed to go my way.

On my way home I thought how great it would be if I could hire that customer to call me every morning. If I could start every day with such a call, I would be able to produce twice as much work, close twice as many deals and make twice the money.

Then it hit me. I could start each and every day with a phone call like that! I resolved to make reliving these positive moments as much a part of my morning routine as drinking a cup of coffee.

What I needed to do was re-create the feeling of that uplifting phone call; create a tangible way to take stock of all of the customers who love the work we do; and use their positive feedback as an emotional anchor. I began to print out all of the glowing e-mails I’ve received in the past few months, trimmed them and glued them into a scrapbook using my wife’s old scrapbooking materials. Now, each morning as I grab my coffee, before I check e-mails and listen to voicemails, I take a moment to read through the pages of all of the positive comments that have come my way. This powerful combination of caffeine and love is by far the best way any businessperson can start his or her day.

This simple change in routine can literally reprogram who you are as a businessperson. Your ability to be effective and productive will instantly increase as you allow every day to start on a positive note. Things that once would leave you fuming will be dealt with easily, and you will begin to see opportunities around every corner.

Imagine being able to put on a pair of glasses that literally allow you to see everything around you as being sunny and bright. Can you imagine the impact this change in perception would have on your business? The impact is both dramatic and real, and it can be yours if you take the time to create your own emotional anchors.

Create whatever you need to be able to relive those moments when you were most proud of your accomplishments, the moments that you experienced hair-raising success and the moments that made you feel on top of the world. Write or print them out and spend time revisiting your success.

Success breeds more success and failure breed more failure. As you allow yourself to consciously spend more time with your success, you will be literally creating more success by getting your head back in the game. The book of success I have created still has many empty pages and, as I go through my day, I am constantly searching for more ways to delight customers and fill those pages with more good feelings.

By reminding yourself every day what it feels like to succeed, you are training yourself to re-create the feeling with everything you touch. Problems are turned into opportunities, ordinary is turned into extraordinary, and everything you touch will turn to gold.

Tom Richard is a Toledo-based sales trainer, gives seminars, runs sales meetings and provides coaching for salespeople. For more information, visit www.TomRichard.com, call (419) 441-1005 or e-mail tom@tomrichard.com.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 28th, 2008 at 12:00 am and is filed under Selling Points, Toledo Business Link.
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