The general meaning of Upbeat is to be cheerful and optimistic.
If you are in sales (everyone is in sales, one way or the other) being upbeat is NOT optional. It is an entry ticket to get to the next stage.
It’s common sense when you think about it. How in the world can you get your prospects and customers to be excited about what you are selling when you are not upbeat?
A few years ago, I wrote a book by the same name – “Upbeat: Cultivating the Right Attitude to Thrive in Tough Times” where I talked about why and how to stay upbeat to survive and thrive during a recession. Revisiting the book again, none of what I wrote is invalid when there is NO recession.
You still need to have the same upbeat attitude to survive and thrive during good times.
Be it bad times or good times, what people are looking for is good help.
Being upbeat will help you stand out from the pack.
Being upbeat alone may not be sufficient for you to win the race but not being upbeat alone is enough to get you disqualified from participating in one.
Being upbeat is a silent announcement that you are:
- Confident about the product and the situation
- Believe in what you are selling
- Convinced that what you are selling fits the needs
Last but not the least, being upbeat shows the other person that you are an energizer meaning they get a lift when they spend time with you.
How do you get started on this journey?
Here are three starter ideas:
1. Smile More
A smile costs next to nothing but immediately puts you in the premium category.
Why?
Because, while smiling is an easy thing to do, it is also easy not to do.
A good smile increases your likeability right away. It’s hard to not like someone who comes with a smile on his or her face. Plus, it has side benefits: Since it will look odd to keep smiling for no reason, you will start to find reasons to smile leading to appreciating many things that you had taken for granted before.
2. ALWAYS Be Ready to Help
You can be one of the two camps:
- Those who can give help OR
- Those who are in need of help
These are not absolutes, of course but you get the idea. If you are in the camp of those who can give help, you become an opportunity for others. In the other case, you are looking at all other people as opportunities.
3. Get into the Ring and out of the Spectators Seats
I chose to take this section from my Upbeat book as it is relevant here.
To summarize it one word: “Play!”
Running with the ball is an exercise fraught with risks. You are at risk of not playing right, playing too early, playing a tad late, closing your eyes at the wrong moment and missing the ball completely, or simply getting hurt.
There is a lot at stake while playing. On the other hand, you can take a ringside seat and watch the game unfold. You are not on the field but you are very close… you are almost on the field playing.
You can comment about how the player should have swung a bit early, a bit late, at a slightly different angle, with a slightly different speed. It won’t take long for you to make a dozen recommendations to “fix” the way the player should have played to win.
It’s a lot of fun to do that, but make no mistake. Sitting ringside is never going to be the same as the experience of going out there and playing.
Think about it. Who do people want to follow, someone on the field playing or someone sitting ringside and commenting on how to play?
Play!
The beauty of staying upbeat is that you will start noticing positive effects almost immediately. Go ahead and try this today to start experiencing magic.
If you are interested in all the articles in the series so far, here they are:
A is for Alignment (title changed on Salesforce.com blog)
E is for Excellence in Small Things
F is for Follow Up (On Huffington Post)
J is for Judgment (On Huffington Post)
N is for Nurturing (On Huffington Post)
Q is for Questions (On Huffington Post)
R is for Resourcefulness (On Huffington Post)
