PSYCHOLOGY
this point in the flow of events you can escape mental pain by saying, “My customer doesn’t need this now,” and that will take care of it.
SP: You are opening the window. DR. SELIGMAN: Right. However, the poor salesperson closes it by saying, “I am no good at this job. I can’t sell this product.” If you inter- pret it that way, then you become passive, you tend to give up with a large number of customers and you tend to blame yourself and feel bad about yourself.
SP: I have read your scientific study of life insurance salespeople and I would like to go through a quick checklist of the consequences of helplessness. First, it saps motiva- tion to respond in future situations. DR. SELIGMAN: Correct.
SP: It disrupts the ability to learn from the situation. DR. SELIGMAN: I would add that it also inhibits the ability to be creative in the situation.
SP: It lowers the expectation for future successes. DR. SELIGMAN: Right.
SP: It produces emotional distur- bances.
DR. SELIGMAN: Specifically sad- ness, anxiety, and hostility. It also generates fear and depression.
SP: It reduces the body’s immune system.
DR. SELIGMAN: Right.
SP: And you found that salespeople earn less and their job security de- creases.
DR. SELIGMAN: Both are correct.
SP: The big question is, what can we do about it? How do we respond to tough situations in a confident, optimistic way? How do we unlearn the helplessness response? DR. SELIGMAN: The president of Metropolitan Life asked me the same question. We began our research by developing a question- naire to predict who was going to react this way. As a result, we immediately lowered turnover by hiring people with what we call “positive explanatory styles.” Next, we developed a training program we call “Optimism Sales Training.” Essentially we introduce people to a process for changing their explanatory styles. It is a four-day program where people learn how to deal with overwhelming, negative
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