I heard you have reached your sales goal. Congratulations! I am happy to hear it.
Also, I am concerned.
Two things change when you succeed. First, you switch from offense to defense. You go from being anxious to grow to being anxious about losing. Innovation (like learning about a new piece of equipment or company capability) dies and with it, the fun you had getting to this level.
The second change is hubris. Growing sales reps are confident yet humble. They know they don’t know everything. They are curious. They listen more than they speak. Once success is achieved, the student becomes the teacher, and, well, you can imagine the shift in attitude.
Again, congratulations on your success. I am sure it is well deserved and you’ve worked hard to get there.
I have two questions and one answer:
The questions:
- How do you stay on offense?
- What will keep you humble?
The answer: Failure. Nothing snaps you back into growth mode faster than the loss of a significant account.
Don’t let that happen. Look beyond your goal now and consider what’s next. Focusing solely on getting there will result in a huge loss of motivation once you do. Having experienced this myself, I urge you to trust me on this.
We are coming up on the year’s halfway mark. I urge you to revisit your 2024 goal/s, think about reaching it/them, and then come up with a next level.
Success brings glory and money and validation. But there is a dark side as well.
And you don’t want to go to the dark side, no matter how good their cookies are.
Please tell me you get the “cookies” joke (if not, Google “The Dark Side has cookies.”) And please tell me you will check out the Sales Vault at SalesVault.pro if you are looking to grow your sales. I can be reached at 781-934-7036.
- Categories:
- Business Management - Marketing/Sales
Bill Farquharson is a respected industry expert and highly sought after speaker known for his energetic and entertaining presentations. Bill engages his audiences with wit and wisdom earned as a 40-year print sales veteran while teaching new ideas for solving classic sales challenges. Email him at bill@salesvault.pro or call (781) 934-7036. Bill’s two books, The 25 Best Print Sales Tips Ever and Who’s Making Money at Digital/Inkjet Printing…and How? as well as information on his new subscription-based website, The Sales Vault, are available at salesvault.pro.