Selling Boldly

11Gratitude versus Cynicism

Gratitude is the feeling of conscious appreciation for what we have (in sales, customers), what we get to try to acquire (prospects), and even what we do not have (customers who are not yet working with us, or even those customers who have rejected us).

While ungrateful is the opposite of gratitude, I wanted to use a slightly different mindset here as the negative version of gratitude. It's a way of thinking that I see frequently among salespeople who are not proactive or confident or bold—or grateful. This is an approach to life and work by salespeople who are driven heavily by fear: the word is cynicism. When I look up the definition of “cynical,” I get distrustful of human sincerity or integrity; concerned only with one's own interest and typically disregard accepted or appropriate standards to achieve them.

When we are grateful, of course, we appreciate our customers—that's easy and obvious. They pay us. They choose us. We are grateful.

But we also give thanks for prospects who provide us an opportunity to grow every day. I have a wonderful chance to grow thanks to these prospects.

But when we are cynical, prospects often frustrate us. I'm sick of chasing them!

When we are grateful, we acknowledge the importance of the customers who tell us no. They keep us going. We do not give up on them. We try again with them, in different ways, at different times, with different products and services. They need us, and we get to show them this. How lucky ...