Happiness in Business

What’s your definition of happiness? Sales is about ensuring the customer is kept happy and that they leave with your offer still happy and they remain happy for the rest of the time they use your service or product. So are you ready to be happy? Age Matters It’s a simple fact that when we are young our focus and happiness is set into the future ahead, be it our desired business accomplishments or ownership of certain items such as a nice car or home. As we get older and the future becomes shorter compared to when we are young the focus turns into the present and enjoying the moment that at a young age wouldn’t be considered a form of happiness. However along with age comes the difference in the actual feeling of happiness, where some describe it as excitement others will say it’s a feeling of calm that they measure as happiness. This is called the temporal focus which is basically how we choose more excitement for our future prospects and choose comparatively peaceful options during the present moment. Put your business hat on and you can see that with this you truly need to understand the client you are dealing with to determine what you can offer to them. It’s down to asking the right questions to qualify the client, be up front with hard hitting questions as even though at times you feel awkward it allows you to see a real emotional change i.e. defensive of company or a bit shy to answer. Everyone is Unique The meaning of happiness is very much centred on the individual and how their focus is set on present or future moments. Research that included 70,000 personal blogs saw that the ideal route of happiness started at being young and excited and moving over with time into the phase of finding happiness from peacefulness or the pursuit of happiness. When everyone tells you in the sales world to build up a relationship with your client(s) this is why. The need to understand how they feel and see their idea of happiness is very much the difference between you the great salesperson and the ruthless money grabbing version of you. Aligning your client’s happiness with your offer is down to what that offer actually is. Say for instance you’re selling a brand new car; chances are it won’t physically be in their possession for some time; however the obvious feeling of happiness will be present through excitement. Skip a few months forward and granted the excitement will be there but there’s a strong possibility of a more feeling of a calm happiness as the car has arrived and is fully in possession. (This feeling may change back over to excitement once they hit the big open road). Emotion & Choice We all experience it from time to time, the feeling of happiness taking hold of our judgement and excitement practically pulling our wallets out to make a purchase. Then there are those times you have spent time thinking through if you need it right now and what benefits you will have with it if you do make the purchase, the peacefulness is what then makes the ultimate judgement. So if you have experienced it then you know for a fact that your client can act in the same manner. It’s about being the supreme salesperson and putting an offer forward that makes you happy but ultimately produces a feeling of happiness that aligns with the focus of the client. We mention that the focus is always on the client and solving their problems, which again this really does highlight the importance of listening and asking questions that provoke feeling of calm or excitement. Make the customer feel happy and they will take you up on their offer.