How serious are you about success?

Most people misunderstand and wrongly define the word serious. They view it as stoic, non-smiling, stiff, non-humorous, and boring. Hardly.

Serious is the intention, the intensity, and the focus that you put into your work ethic and your personal ethics. Serious is a way of life, a way of business, a way of selling, and a way of serving.

How serious are you?

When your prospect or customer comes to the realisation you are serious about doing business or earning business, it stems from the actions you took to make that feeling possible.

Those serious actions or characteristics include:

• Your speed of response.

• Your ability to deliver.

• Your ability and desire to serve.

• Knowledge about how what we have will help someone.

• Friendliness.

• Being personable.

• Perceived value of your product or service.

• Truth at all cost.

• Availability when customers call.

• Accessibility.

• Easy to engage for business.

• Online access to information and ordering.

If you have all these attributes, you have a chance of being perceived as serious.

What are you serious about?

I always found it pathetically funny when someone told me: “We have all the business we can handle.”

This is a sentence often spoken in response to an offer to advertise. I wonder if that same sentence is true today? Maybe if that business owner was more serious about business building rather than business bragging, he would be in better shape today.

Yes, I’m serious about the economy, and our present state of affairs, but I am 1,000 per cent more serious about my business, my finances, and my sales.

My focus is on success, not doom and gloom. There’s no bailout for entrepreneurs. And the only stimulus I have is the one I create for myself.

In good times or bad times, here are a few things we are serious about in my business: (How do you and your business compare?)

• We are serious about helping our customers. Many are in need, and looking for answers.

• We are serious about being friendly. It costs no extra money to be friendly, and it sets the tone for positive outcome.

• We are serious about being an online leader. Online is forever, and we are investing in our future.

• We are serious about now being the time. We are not waiting to see what happens, we are taking success actions on the opportunities that exist now.

• We are serious about error-free order processing and packing. We focus on delivery, not shipping. And yes, we do make errors. But our recovery is spectacular. The best email I get is one that says, “you walk your talk”.

• We are serious about getting every order shipped the day it’s received. Our customers expect it fast and perfect, and we deliver.

• We are serious about doing the right thing and the best thing for our customers. This is a true mission statement.

• We are serious about having fun while doing it. We engage customers and we do it with the serious intention of having a great time and being memorable.

• We’re a family, not a team. Maybe that’s why we’re serious about working together, staying together, and succeeding together.

I realise many of my customers need help and I am serious about giving it to them. Not selling – giving.

I realise many companies are having tough times, and, because our field of expertise includes attitude, sales, and loyalty, we have a genuine opportunity to help.

As a speaker, I’m serious about connecting with my audience. I want them to get my message and improve their sales, their business, and their lives — and to do that, I know everyone must laugh. And laugh hard. Laugh a lot. I’m serious about humour. I practise timing as I’m speaking to maximise audience laughter, pleasure, and learning. Over the years I have come to the full understanding of the power and appeal of laughter.

These are times that call for different approaches and different actions. They challenge me to have a different mindset and slower expectations of victory. Not lower, slower.

Jeffrey Gitomer is an American author, professional speaker and business trainer, who writes and lectures internationally on sales, customer loyalty and personal development. © 2017 All rights reserved. Don’t reproduce this document without written permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.