I was addressing a group of salespeople from a large entertainment company. One young woman raised her hand and asked, “What do you do about a customer who is always negative? No matter what I say to him, he’s always negative. How do I handle it?”

I thought about it for a moment and replied, “Understand where the client is coming from.” (All their clients are retailers). “As a business owner, he is constantly being bombarded not only with negativity, but with “The world is coming to an end” doom and gloom, courtesy of the mainstream media. He wakes up in the morning, the radio comes on and he hears...”Interest rates are rising, the price of oil will reach $100 a barrel, global warming is going to melt us and the real estate bubble is about to burst: this could make retail sales very sluggish.” He runs into someone on the way to work who adds, ‘What are you doing these days?’ When he replies, ‘I’m in the retail business,’ they say, ‘Wow, business must be rough, I hear retail sales aren’t too good.’ He sits down at his desk for his first cup of coffee and makes his biggest mistake: He opens the newspaper and reads... ‘Interest rates are up, China and India are going to steal all our jobs; this will affect consumer spending and retail sales.”

At this point, the day has barely started and the retailer has taken 3 good shots to the chin. Your lucky he’s only negative and not suicidal. Feeling totally depressed, he looks up and who’s walking in the door...a salesperson.

Now what do you think the salesperson does? Most salespeople in this situation say what they think the client wants to hear, rather then what they need to hear. They immediately become “commiserators.”

They say, “Yeah, I know; it’s tough all over. Everyone’s telling me the same thing. It’s slow everywhere.”

What a great way to put someone into a buying frame of mind; tell them the world is going to end tomorrow. Do you think someone would want to sign a long-term contract with your company if they felt the economy was going to nose-dive tomorrow?

Where is the positive message? Who is telling this customer that there are good things happening out there (because there are)?

At this point, I turned to the young lady who asked me the question and said, “By the way, how are you doing this year?”

She said, “I’m doing great!”

“Tell him that,” I said. I then asked her manager, “How is the company doing?”

She said, “Great!”

I said, “Then why don’t you tell him that? Don’t you think he wants to hear that? Don’t you think he wants to hear that someone is doing well? Don’t you think he needs to hear that?”

Why do so many people hate to admit they’re doing well? Other people need to hear that. They need to know there are some good things happening out there. It’s what gives them hope. Something they’re certainly not going to get from the media. Good news doesn’t sell newspapers.

Be the one to give out the positive message. Be the one to tell your prospects and customers there are good things going on out there. You won’t change people overnight (especially with all the negative messages you’ll be fighting), but eventually you’ll start to make an impact. Besides, whom do you think your clients prefer to buy from: Someone who’s doing well or someone who’s convinced the world is ending tomorrow? Who would you buy from?