A tweet by a respected sales guru recently caught my attention. The tweet stated, "Do you really believe that your enthusiasm for your product or service is contagious? Don't."
Although your personal enthusiasm may not be contagious the passion you exhibit for your product, service or offering will be noticed by your prospect.
Technical knowledge is important but your personal enthusiasm and passion does makes a difference.
Allow me to share an example...
I live close to the Niagara region in Ontario and the area boosts more than 120 wineries. Being wine enthusiasts, my wife and I visit different wineries on a regular basis.
We have encountered people who possess a high level of technical knowledge but who lack passion. Although they can describe the individual characteristics of each wine it is obvious that they don't get excited about wine.
However, some of the wineries are staffed by people who have a strong passion and love of wine. My wife and I consistently buy more wine from these individual's compared to employees who possess technical knowledge (providing the wine is pleasing to our palette, of course!)
In the B2B sales world, passion and enthusiasm alone won't help you close a sale. However, assuming everything is created equal; a prospect will be more inclined to buy from someone who has passion for their product or service.
Enthusiasm in and by itself is not enough to close a deal. However, when it is combined with knowledge and the right approach it can help you stand out from a competitor.