Crisis is the Best Time to Effect Change
Change is in the air. You can feel it like a crisp winter day. You can almost smell it. The personal question is: How will you react to that change?
The bigger personal question is: Do you understand that change is opportunity?
The biggest personal question is: How will you take advantage of that opportunity?
We are in a crisis. Some will define it in otherwords, like recession or downturn, but the actions we as a people and a government takeover the next few months willshape our world for the next decade.
Some people are “waiting to see what happens.”Big mistake. There are three kinds of people—those who make things happen, people who watch things happen, and those people who don’t know what’s happening. Which kind are you?
You can’t change things in the world, but you can change things in your world.
Now is the perfect time to change your situation, and take a self-leadership position. Now is the perfect time to take control of yourself—your thoughts, your expressions, and your actions.
If you’re in sales, now is the time to sell. Sell better and with more passion than ever before. Start with existing customers. Serve them so phenomenally that they buy more, and refer you toothers. That’s not a change you can, “live with;” that’s a change you can survive with, even thrive with.
Don’t just guard your desk and your job. Guard your customers. They are your lifeblood.
REALITY: In order to change whatever you were doing before, you must intensify your efforts.Translation: In order to effect that change, work harder and smarter than ever before, and do it with a positive attitude and a service heart.
Here’s the secret: Outside change makes inside change okay.
At this moment, many people in our society are looking for answers—or better stated waiting for answers. What are you waiting for? What are you looking for? What are you doing?
While this time is passing there are three atmospheres to consider:
•One is fear and anger. Being bitter, not better.
•One is hope and anxiousness. Waiting instead of doing.
•One is positive anticipation and determination. Digging in and doing. Which atmosphere do you exist in?
HOPE: As I travel across the United States, I’ve noticed there is a renewed sense of friendliness and patriotism. A sense of union I’ve never witnessed. There is a willingness among many to try to get better and work harder. And clearly, there is a renewed sense of urgency.
Yes, there’s fear, frustration,and disappointment, but not as much as you might read about orhear about. (Hint: They rarely show the good things on TV.) The key is to not be angry about it. Anger affects your attitude, your ability to think clearly and think creatively, and your ability to see the best answers and the best opportunity for you.
Sure you want to be safe, but consider those who pay you, those you serve, and those around you.They are affected too. And their response to the same situation will most likely be different than yours.
PROBLEM: Big companies are looking to remain profitable, and are doing it at the expense of their employees and their service offerings. Airlines and automobile manufacturers are crying —not serving better or raising quality, rather cutting everything and everyone, and begging for money. Morale is in the gutter, along with service. Huge mistake.
EASY ANSWER: Double your service offerings.
REALITY: People are looking to get closer, to find a bond, to find answers. People want the country to rally and win. Patriotism is rampant.(What was your last proactive act of patriotism?) It’s not just salute the flag and sing the national anthem, it’slook at history and see how we have overcome adversity in the past, and try to discover and work for positive outcomes in the future.
WAKE UP: Now is the time for friendly, and friendly itself is change that makes other change possible. Now is the time for service, and service itself can make people want to do business with you at all times, not just during economically challenging times. 
Return to Ingram's February 2009
Jeffrey Gitomer is author of The Little Red Book of Selling and The Little Red Book of Sales Answers.
P | 704.333.1112
E | salesman@gitomer.com