“What many sellers don’t realize is that success is a choice.” ~Jill Konrath from Agile Selling (pg 24)
Here is the interesting thing that you’ll figure out – if you haven’t already.
This doesn’t mean they LIKE everything
it takes to be a success,
it means they are
WILLING TO CONSISTENTLY DO WHAT IT TAKES.
My parents, who were both public school teachers, use to say that they loved teaching and would do it for free… but the rest of the job was (insert your own negative adjective here – perhaps; stupid or annoying or something else) and that is what they were paid to do.
Their choice was to be successful in their careers – which meant they had to do those unpleasant things, deal with difficult situations, and sometimes swallow their pride – to achieve that success.
I was lucky to learn that lesson as a child and it stuck with me.
For inside sales success:
* when you see a news article with a trigger event that looks promising: you have to do research – sometimes just to find someone else at your organization is already calling on that prospect.
BUT other times the account is available!
* you have to leave lots of voicemail and send umpteen emails: to connect with your prospect – occasionally to hear “I’m not the guy”.
BUT without those calls and notes, you wouldn’t have found that last new customer either!
* asking tough questions: might make you feel queezy and sometimes the person on the other end of the phone gets upset.
BUT the information you gather helps create the perfect solution for them.
To misquote David Sandler, or perhaps Pete Morrissey (the guy who taught me to sell to begin with) – successful salespeople do the things unsuccessful salespeople fail to do.
To quote Jill again “They’ve made the pivotal choice. They’re not hoping or trying to be successful; they’ve chosen it deliberately.” (pg 25)
Today (and everyday) choose success. It is your choice.
Want more … of course you do … well:
* buy Jill Konrath’s book, Agile Selling
* stay tuned & read the next post
image courtesy of © Andrew Taylor | Dreamstime
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