Salespeople Need Courage

Long ago I learned that courage is a key element of a successful sales career.

What is there to be afraid of in sales?

Other than the potential for an angry prospect or customer to give you a tough time, there doesn’t seem to be much to be afraid of. Then why is courage an attribute of success? Salespeople need courage to address and overcome more subtle challenges that we all face on a continuing basis.

Rejection

Rejection was my biggest personal hurdle. I was afraid of failure for the first few years of my career. I was afraid to be turned down by prospects or customers. Rejection was embarrassing and humiliating. It became such a problem for me that I stopped calling on busy customers so that if I was turned away or told no that others would not witness the humiliation. Once I recognized that my career would be over if I couldn’t overcome fear, I became determined to suck it up and make those calls anyway, under any circumstances. I was still nervous, but I did what I had to do anyway. Having courage to fight through my fear saved my sales career.

Competition

If something is worthwhile, a good product or service to sell, a money maker, you can be sure that there will be serious competition. Competition used to make me nervous. It was hard to sit in a waiting room staring down the guy or girl who wanted to beat me. At some point I decided that I was going to stand up to competition and fight to win every time, always. I studied my competition. I learned about them, their strengths and weaknesses. I worked at being better than the competition. My funniest incident happened one day when a strong competitor drove in the customer’s parking lot behind me. No kidding, I actually ran from the car to the door and was seen first. First come first served. I got over worrying about competitors and decided to win baby win.

Change

Just about the time you get control of your career and get in a groove, things seem to change. No, things always change. Change can be our friend if we understand and adapt to it. We need courage to step into unknown territory, away from the security of what we know, our comfort zones. Winners don’t worry about change and winners don’t procrastinate when change arrives. They continue to learn about, adapt to and master changes that others withdraw from or ignore. The reality is that those who aren’t courageous enough to change will fail.

Security

Have you ever worried about your job, your security? Sure you have. We all have. With house payments, car payments, kids to raise and a lifestyle to maintain I used to worry about my future constantly. What if my industry changed? (It did), what if my employer faltered? (It did) What if? What if? What if? If you can’t live in the insecure world of sales, you won’t make it. When I began to realize that my career security was based on the skills and work habits I developed, I stopped worrying. I started to believe in myself. Our reality is that as producing sales professional we are totally employable. All companies need sales and that requires talented salespeople. Need a job? Get the word out and the phone will ring. The good news is that you provide your own career security and are immune from outside factors. Stop worrying.

The Lesson

Over time, I have conditioned myself to overcome my fears to deal with rejection, competition and change. “No” became “Non-Yes”. Competitors were left behind in the dust and change became my friend…a welcome opportunity to establish a competitive advantage. I stopped worrying about career security. It stopped being a problem.

Practical Application

A few weeks ago I was kicked out of a building by a big guy who decided he didn’t want to talk to me after all and wanted me out of his office immediately. He was a former Marine Staff Sergeant (evidenced by lots of stuff on his office walls), so I willingly left right away. Once in the parking lot I checked and did not have any visible bumps or bruises. My feelings were not even hurt. As a forty year veteran salesperson in the field, and at sixty-two years of age, I had again been severely rejected by a prospective customer. My attitude was “So what, next?”

In Hindsight

I should have qualified that guy a little better.