Your Attitude Walks Into the Room Before You Do (Money Monday)

This is Jeb Blunt and it's Money Monday on the Sales Gravy Podcast.

Hi everyone, welcome to this episode of Money Monday, I'm Jessica Stokes, filling in this

week for Jeb.

Have you ever walked into a meeting where someone hasn't even said a word, but you could

already tell what type of mood that they were in?

Maybe it was a big warm smile that made you feel welcome, or maybe it was a scowl in

their brow as they looked at their phone indicating that they were frustrated with something.

You know that feeling.

Their body language says it all, the facial expression, the tone of their voice, the

energy, it just fills the room, whether it's positive or negative.

Here's one thing that salespeople don't realize.

Your attitude walks in the room before you do.

In sales, this happens when you are prospecting and having client conversations.

People pick up on your energy immediately, sometimes within seconds.

And the crazy part, this happens over the phone, a Zoom meeting, a Teams meeting,

it's not just in person meetings.

Before buyers fully process what you're saying, they are already reacting to how you are

showing up, the tone, the enthusiasm, curiosity, confidence, your overall presence.

Think about the last time someone called you and they sounded irritated or rushed, maybe

even annoyed.

You could feel it instantly, right?

What do you think?

Usually, you just want to get off the phone, you want to shorten the conversation, you

may even start to disengage.

Now compare that to someone who sounds energized, present, happy, and genuinely interested

in having a conversation with you.

Same call, but a different experience because your energy transfers.

Last year, my husband and I started planning a backyard project.

We've been dreaming about this project for a couple of years, so we were pretty excited

about it.

Thinking about a new fire pit, extending the patio, and just creating one of those backyards

where friends and family felt welcomed and comfortable right away.

It was a project that had been on our wish list for a pretty long time.

So I asked two different contractors to come by the house, share some of their ideas, and

give us a price quote.

The first contractor showed up, and honestly, my excitement started to fade.

The moment I opened the door.

He looked irritated, almost annoyed, like coming by my house that day was the last place

he wanted to be.

There was no smile, no friendly greeting.

Honestly, it was all business, and you could tell he just wanted to be done.

So we walked to the backyard.

I started sharing some of the ideas that I've been thinking about, where the fire pit

might go, how we imagine the patio extending out, and I was pretty excited to hear what

he thought.

But there was still not much from him.

No enthusiasm, no curiosity, no affirmation of where I wanted my fire pit.

Instead, he immediately jumped into questions about our budget and a few qualifying factors,

which to be fair, these are important things to discuss, but there was no connection.

In about three minutes, I already knew one thing.

I did not want to work with him, which was interesting because his company actually had

great reviews.

They had done beautiful work on other homes in our neighborhood.

But none of that mattered in the moment, because the energy he brought to the conversation,

honestly, the lack of energy he brought, changed the entire experience.

And here's the thing, I'm sure he was great at what he did, but that didn't matter.

Because before he even started talking about designs or materials or pricing, his attitude

had already made the decision for me.

A couple of days later, we had a visit from the second contractor.

But within the first 60 seconds, the experience felt completely different.

He smiled as soon as I opened the door and he introduced himself.

He seemed genuinely happy to be meeting with us.

Same type of meeting, same objective, but his energy immediately pulled us in.

He was asking about our plans for the space, what features were on our must-have list,

and he even started sharing ideas like, you could do this here or have you thought about

this design.

It felt collaborative and exciting.

And here's the key.

It also led to us trusting him more even before we saw a quote, that's the power of positive

energy.

Sales people spend so much time working on what questions to ask during discovery or how

to handle potential objections and sometimes forget about practicing your tone.

I work with salespeople all of the time who do not love using the phone, prospecting

as their least favorite activity.

And when they finally sit down to make those calls, whether it was due to pressure from

leadership or desperation to fill the pipeline, they treat the phone like it's their enemy

before they make the first dial they've already decided, no one's going to answer.

And if they do, they're going to be annoyed.

So what happens?

They show up hesitant.

Their energy is low and almost apologetic when they start making those dials.

And prospects can hear this immediately.

They hear your tone.

They hear your pace.

They can sense the lack of confidence.

You don't sound like somebody bringing value.

You sound like someone trying to complete a task.

And then when people hang up on you or brush you off, you blame it on the prospect.

But the reality is the call was lost before it even started.

So now let's flip that.

When you go into a call block with energy, a smile, everything changes.

Your tone sharpens, your confidence increases.

And prospects respond differently.

It can be the same script, the same lead list, but different outcomes because of your attitude.

This dynamic is even more important today than ever.

Because so many conversations and sales are happening over phone calls and video meetings.

Some people think that the energy would matter less when you're in a virtual environment.

But the opposite is actually true.

When someone is distracted on a call, you can hear it.

When someone is excited, you can feel it.

When someone is disengaged, it's obvious.

So in virtual conversations, that energy we bring actually gets amplified.

Which means your mindset matters more than ever.

One of the most powerful habits you can build is a simple 30 second reset before a conversation

before your next prospecting call or virtual meeting, pause and ask yourself, what energy

am I bringing to this conversation?

How do I want them to feel when this conversation ends?

At the end of the day, buyers might forget your exact pitch.

They may forget your slides, but they won't forget how they felt engaging with you.

And in sales, how they feel when meeting you will determine if there's going to be a

second meeting or not.

So the next time you walk into a room, whether it's a physical conference room, a phone call

or a Zoom screen, make a decision not to just show up, but to show up on purpose and with

excitement.

Because your attitude walks into that room before you do.

Make sure it's the kind of energy that people want to do business with.

You've been listening to the sales gravy podcast.

This is Jessica Stokes, make today awesome.