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The power of passion

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Have you ever been to the store to buy something and been greeted by a sour-faced auto-bot? You want to yell at them, “just leave your job if you hate it so much”.

You want to scream at them that their attitude brings you and everyone they come in contact with down and lessens their joy. Can you imagine what their approach does to those who have to work with them, and to the business owner’s bottom line? Creating an unpleasant shopping or buying experience is seldom a pathway to success.

People that are passionate about what they do for work are more successful at it. Salespeople spend a fortune on sales tip books about engaging people, getting them enthused about and wanting to have what you are selling. If you can’t get enthused yourself, then you have no shot at firing up anybody else.

The snowball effect

Lack of passion is the number one thing that I have seen lead to a lack of success in sales. And it has a snowball effect. You lose your passion, then you get pressure because you aren’t doing your numbers, then the pressure makes your job even less enjoyable, which decreases your passion.

I have been in the same role for 13 years and over that time I have become – and stayed – very passionate about what I do. The terms of trade, credit checking and debt recovery services that we provide really do make a difference to businesses. And if my passion ever flags, all I have to do is call up one of my existing clients and ask them how their interaction with me has improved their business, and I’m back on fire again.

In order to be passionate about something, you need to believe in it. For example, I’m not passionate about platform high heels – or multilevel marketing schemes. Whatever you do, you need to be able to see the benefits it brings to people.

If you sell insurance, then read articles on families that are left homeless and penniless after a fire with no insurance. If you sell tyres, then read about stopping distances and the difference that good tyres make. And if you sell office chairs, then study the longterm back issues that can be caused by bad ergonomics. Once you see yourself as the holder of the solution to a very serious issue, then the passion will flow and so will the results.

People say that passion isn’t everything – you need knowledge and skill. Of course. But how much easier is it to learn a skill or gain knowledge in an area you are passionate about?

Another thing I love about what I do is that it helps business owners focus on the activity that they got into business to do. No-one ever said: “I love building. But I can’t wait until I can do lots of paperwork and chase debtors.” Leave that job to us, and focus on your passion.

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Nick Kerr
Nick Kerr
Nick Kerr is the director of IPI Group Limited. He can be reached on 021 876 527 and nick@nzipi.com.

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