This week I am going to remind you of the well-known phrase, “What goes around, comes around.” Maybe it would be more accurate if I said, “What was old is new again.”
What I am trying to say is that you do not always have to come up with something new to (1) capture attention, (2) become more effective, or (3) to deliver a message worth delivering.
Today, I have decided to turn back the clock and repeat one of my messages from 2015. Here goes:
Regardless of the length, girth or the simplicity (or intricacy) of your business plan, your persistent adherence to the basics is essential if you want to continue to build a business you can be proud of.
First, You Have to Get Your Thinking Straight.
With COVID-19 putting our industry on the backburner as it has over the last 18-months, many of you have lost your mojo when it comes to selling or managing travel.
Let me see if I can help you get back on track by reminding you of the ol’ placebo effect. This is where, say, 100 patients are given a white pill to cure a medical problem. Fifty of those patients get the real medication, while the other fifty get nothing more than a white powder—the “placebo.” Yet, some significant percentage of the placebo group (sometimes more than half) will show symptom relief or even be cured.
This proves beyond any doubt the staggering importance of what the mind is capable of, and how it can directly affect a person’s attitude. If a positive attitude can cure a medical problem without any medicine, just think what it can do for a “sales” problem?
With the current up and down atmosphere we are all experiencing today, it comes as little surprise that a whole bunch of destructive negative self-talk is finding its way into our daily thinking. In short, your attitude is being tested like never before.
Any outward sign of a negative attitude can have unintended, destructive consequences on your sales effort thereby destroying client relationships. I do not like to dwell on negatives, but that often comes with the territory when pointing out problems. Remember, I am trying to deal constructively with mental processes, which may need an adjustment and realignment for the sake of your sales career. I am not judging you.
Let me be clear. Your Mission is to Not Change the Attitude of Others.
Have you noticed those people who walk around day-in and day-out looking as if they have just lost their best friend? These people seem to be communicating to the world that life is (and always will be) an unfair experience. Daily existence appears to be a total drag to them. They act like life offers nothing to them in return of their “showing up.”
If you happen to know one or more of these people (and I’m betting that you do), let me suggest that you avoid trying to improve their outlook by trying to engage in their continuous exercise of self-pity.
Your job is not to get these people singing from the right side of the page. Your challenge is to get your thinking straight, in gear, and firmly positioned for greater things to come. This may sound selfish to you, but as your friendly flight attendants remind us time and again, “put your own oxygen mask on first before helping others.”
There is truth in the saying that “the body follows the head.” Get your thinking right and your actions will follow. It is also important to remember that the mind quits first. This was one of the key lessons I learned while training for the Ironman Triathlon competition back in 1996. Train your mind first, and the rest becomes academic. Believe that you are about to make the rest of 2021 the best year it can be by performing your daily activities like the professional you are.
Your success will not come by accident. You are about to make it so.
Next Monday I will be back to give you more to think about.
Mike Marchev is always looking for a few more proactive travel professionals to join his Sales and Marketing Club. mike@mikemarchev.com.
*** You want more to think about? Check out my weekly podcast (Mike’d Up Marchev). Also listed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google, and iHeartRadio.
