A salesperson with a healthy amount of optimism can be described as someone who is slow to learn helplessness. This person has persistence—a trait that is critical in the sales world because of the frequency of rejections salespeople experience. In the face of failure, some people throw their hands up in the air and resign themselves to the disappointment because they feel helpless to change the situation. Others, however, see themselves as being more resilient and that a customer’s refusal is NOT a rejection of themselves personally, but of the opportunity being offered. Salespeople who possess a large amount of optimism like themselves and when they encounter failure, although disappointed, it does not destroy their positive view of themselves. They consider themselves still in the running and able to turn the situation around. They believe that they can make things better by using a different approach, or by trying again.
What to look for in good performers: