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Is it just me or do newscasters almost get a grin on their face when they report bad economic news?

The reality is that the media likes to exaggerate bad economic news because the general public has an unhealthy taste for it. People don’t stop to stare at good driving. They stop and gawk at three car pileups. In journalism, “If it bleeds, it leads.”

If we don’t apply critical thinking to their message about the economy it can hurt our sales efforts.

What’s crazy about all of this is that the economy is actually growing even as I type this. Most surveys indicate that the GDP will grow at about .5% through July of this year. Not stellar growth, but growth nonetheless. The Department of Labor says that hiring for new college graduates this Spring will be up 16% over last year.

Think about it - the news media is hysterical because we aren’t growing as quickly as we have in past quarters. It’s an election year; all logic is off the table I suppose.

As professional salespersons it is essential that the following words don’t come out of our mouths or even enter our thinking.

1. “I guess you don’t need anything today Mr. Customer because of the slowdown…”
2. “I’m cutting out early today. It’s not like anyone is buying anything anyway.”
3. “I’m not going to waste my time prospecting. People are buying less, not more, in this downturn.”

Bad economic news that causes salespeople to slow their selling efforts is a result of the Pygmalion effect. Simply stated, the Pygmalion effect is when we bring our performance in line with our expectations. It works both negatively and positively and is also known as a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Those talking-head-newscasters could not possibly care less about your sales career. They are misrepresenting the state of the economy in order to sell news. Think of them as a psychological competitor.

Continue to call on your customers and prospects. The economy is growing. Really.

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Tags: career

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