Is This as Good as it Gets?

March 9th, 2010

By Tom Reilly, author of “Crush Price Objections”

The 1997 romantic comedy, As Good as it Gets, features Jack Nicholson as a hermit obsessive-compulsive writer, Melvin Udall. In a scene in the waiting room of his psychiatrist’s office, Melvin startles other patients by asking them if there was more to life than what they have. He quips, “What if this is as good as it gets?” Have you challenged yourself lately with that question?

Recessions may take the wind out of your sails for a while until you gain some momentum, but the Great Recession of 2008-09 has really beached some people and some companies. For many people, “flat is the new up.” This means that if their sales are flat over the previous year, they feel successful. For others, the new definition of winning is not losing. Is this as good as it gets? No. Flat is not up and not losing is not winning. What’s up with that attitude? It’s time to put that thinking where it belongs—out of your mind.

• Things get better by acting as if things are getting better. This causes us to make sound, long-term decisions. We create better times through our actions.
• Things get better when we sell as if customers are buying.
• Things get better when we make sales calls with the anticipation of creating positive outcomes.
• Things get better when we approach every opportunity with the question, “What is the most we can do to leverage this opportunity?”
• Things get better when we stop complaining how bad things are. There is no more news in this bad news.

This economy is not as good as it gets unless you accept that things cannot get better.

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