Over the last 12 months, I have worked very hard to become even more optimistic than I was before. While it has been a slow ride, I have started to see in recent weeks, a massive compounding effect that is helping me build a sales funnel and win opportunities left right and centre.

That is the reason why personal development is so important, and if you follow my lead and become more optimistic, you too can see an increase in sales within your business. Remember that whatever you do, you’re a sales person no matter what and so if there is one thing you can do to increase your effectiveness ten-fold, it’s to learn the art of optimism and the advantages that come with it.

Below are the nine ways that my new optimism has helped me win sales and how you can mirror my actions to achieve similar results.

1. Giving me more confidence

When I started being more optimistic, I found that I was meeting prospects with a lot more confidence. The state of mind that I was in felt refreshing and allowed me to have better posture and a stronger tone in voice. I walked into meetings saying to myself “Tim, you’re going to win this prospect over and even if you don’t, you have another person to add to your network who could introduce someone to you down the track.” When I went into a meeting knowing that I couldn’t lose and no matter the result, there was a benefit, I found that my sales and conversion rate began to increase.

2. Crushing objections

Objections are a common occurrence in sales, and my newfound optimism helped me to overcome them. When you’re presented with an objection, it’s best to draw on your optimism because most objections are worse case scenario’s that will probably never happen. Try using a compelling story that demonstrates to the prospect that the objection can be overcome.

This only works though if you believe the objection can be overcome yourself. At the same time be honest with the prospect and tell then that sometimes the worse case can happen but that you’re confident that you have a solution for that as well.

3. Making me stand out from my competitors

After submitting a proposal, it’s almost guaranteed that a competitor is also going to pitch for the business. What I found was that my optimism helped me stand out, and there was a connection between me and my potential client. The other competitor would usually just go in and pitch the typical solutions whereas my presentation was less about product and more about whether there were synergies between us.

My optimism helped me to think differently and I started telling my prospects that if they came to me it would be more than just buying a product, it would be like joining a community and they could cross-pollinate with other like-minded businesses. This conversation then led to the question, “am I already dealing with a company that the prospect might want to sell too?”

Mentioning this to the prospect then showed them that coming with my solution might even allow them to sell to a prospect that they couldn’t normally get in front of through an introduction by me. All of this came from my newfound optimism that made me think up ideas and solutions that were out of the box.

4. Allowing me to inspire the prospect

The optimism that I have now found allows me to get in front of a prospect and inspire them to do something. Inspiration often starts with some form of optimism. You have to be able to see things better than they are to be able to inspire someone. At the end of the day all any prospect ever wants is to be inspired and deal with someone who can help share their future through a feeling of rapport. You need to come across as a thought leader in your field and as a person that’s writing the rules for your industry. If you’re not being optimistic and getting dragged down, your level of influence will be next to zero.

5. Speeding up the sales process

Since my new optimism entered my life, I have found that the average sale time has decreased for some opportunities. I credit this to the fact that my optimism demonstrates an undying will to help any way I can and ensure that the implementation of the solution will be a success. Trying something new for the first time can be quite nerve racking, especially when it can affect a businesses revenue quite drastically if things go wrong.

When a prospect is on the journey with someone who is optimistic and believes in what they are doing, a lot of the unease disappears. When someone says yes to a product or solution, they have no idea if the outcome will be what they want, but they usually make their decision from a feeling. Optimism helps generate a positive feeling in the prospect that will make them say yes in a shorter amount of time, providing it’s used in an honest way.

6. Having prospects call me to follow up

As a result of being optimistic, I now find the prospects are following me up rather than me necessarily needing to chase them. This happens because when the prospect phones you it’s like ringing a friend so it’s not exhausting, and the conversation flows effortlessly. The moment that this trust is established, providing you deliver on what you say you will, it’s very likely that you will be doing business with this person for a long time.

7. Winning the sometimes unwinnable deals

I had one case where I walked into a meeting, and the client said to me, “Thanks for coming Tim, but we are not keen to meet anymore, just send me your brochure and we might give you a call in a few weeks.” The conversation went from here to them signing with me a few weeks later. While I am not exactly sure what changed my circumstances on this deal, I know that it came from their business feeling like they had reached a wall and me showing them what an optimistic future could look like.

As soon as they got a whiff of my optimism, and every objection they hit me with had a calm and relaxed answer, the deal was in the bag. It’s these types of scenarios that show me the power of optimism. All this company wanted was to feel good about their business and make a change for the better.

8. Giving me the fight to follow up

Any form of selling is hard. You have to put up with lots of rejection and sometimes very negative people. It’s this reason why the power of optimism helps you to soldier on and not think about what could go wrong. There are so many deals that I go into where there are a hundred roadblocks in my way, but my optimism allows me to handle each one as they come up and not stress about the outcome. If I look back quite a few years ago when I didn’t have as much optimism, I was often closing off opportunities after one or two conversations because I didn’t have the will to push through.

I would even focus on the price or what my competitors were doing rather than just focusing on providing a solution that is presented in an optimistic way. I worked out that it takes around seven legitimate follow-ups on average, for a prospect to proceed with a solution. If I am closing the opportunity off after one or two contacts, then I am probably not being optimistic enough as to the odds of me winning.

I find myself now holding onto deals in my sales funnel that have been in there for more than a year and then actually closing some of these as won. What I found is that no competitor, after that much time, would ever think that that prospect would go ahead, yet I did so when they are finally ready, I get the call – no one else.

9. Getting me more introductions

What’s probably the best thing about optimism is when you show a prospect the light at the end of the tunnel and they finally reach the end of that journey with you, they are ecstatic and want to introduce other business owners and their family and friends.

What this means for you is that you are going to have even more deals that you can win, and they will be warm without you necessarily having to go on the same gruelling journey. As you move through the years, and your optimism compounds further, you will see a direct impact on the number of introductions you get and your close ratio.

Final ThoughtSo there you have it, it’s time to learn the power of optimism and change the way you think. Optimism won’t just help you in a sales environment; it will help you in all aspects of your life. From now on when you’re presented with a difficult situation try and approach it from the position of optimism. If you find this hard, then get someone who you know is optimistic to give you their view. Remember that every challenge exists because there is a lesson on the other side. Even if you fail, you still get the free education that comes with the journey.

If you have some of your own stories on how your optimism has helped you, then please feel free to share them in the comments section below or on my Facebook Page.