Don't Let Negative Energy Affect Your Day: A Grandfather's Sales Tip
Most of us have been in that situation in life where we wish we had a great response to a snarky comment thrown our way. Instead of saying something witty in return, we sit there dumfounded, unable to say anything at all. Of course, we allow it to eat away at us for weeks wishing we had a sharp response in return, but what does that solve? You’ve just wasted two weeks dedicating negative energy toward what? 
My 96 (soon to be 97) year old grandfather consistently helps to keep life in perspective for me. He’s a living example of a guy that didn’t sweat the small stuff. It may be cliché, but there is no better example of a person that exemplifies it so well in my life. On top of that, the dude just makes it look easy. It could be 96 years of perspective that got him there, but I think he figured it out a long time ago. As a result the guy has lived an amazing life and still somehow manages to be the most pleasant guy in the room after all of these years. Without question, it has everything to do with him never letting the unpleasant people and negative situations in life get him down.
It’s natural that we can spend too much time on the “unresolved zing” as Paul Castain puts it. He claims this occurs “when someone disses us, is rude, left hooks us . . . but for whatever reason, we don’t return fire!” Paul’s take and his recommendation on how to handle it is he suggests a similar approach as my grandfather has demonstrated throughout his life.
It struck me how nicely this ties into the cold calling/sales world. There really is no better way, from my perspective, to attack your day when making dials. We have to come to expect that people are going to be more inclined to blow us off rather than welcome us with open arms. We have to be prepared for the zings, the no’s and the unresponsive folks. It’s all part of what we have to deal with in the cold calling game. What matters most is how you let that affect you. Use it as a learning experience, take what you can from it and then simply pick yourself up, dust yourself off and attack the next dial with a smile.
We’re all inclined to dedicate too much of our mental energy toward negative interactions. But when we look back on it a few months later, we laugh and wonder what all the stress/anger was all about. Though it may not be easy, when we encounter a similar situation, we should try our best to just move on quickly. The happiest and most successful people in sales, and others like my grandfather, seem to attack their day that way….I think it’s time we all start taking a page from their book.