If you don’t make things happen, chances are nobody will. You must make it your business to grow your business. You must take responsibility for what happens in your career and in your life… every week, every day, and on every sales call.
The outcome of your sales career is entirely up to you. That is one of the beautiful things about sales. Your hands are on the controls. You are driving the bus. Your future, for the most part, lies entirely within your power. You set the pace. You plan your day. You make the calls. You take the credit. You take the hits. You win… or you don’t.
No Excuses
A few years back at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, Alberto Tomba (the reigning downhill skiing superstar at the time) was expected to take home the Gold. His skiing style was fearless, flamboyant and fast as he pulled out all the stops and simply “went for it” each and every time down the mountain. But on this particular day at Nagano, he didn’t make the medal stand. On this particular day, he didn’t even make it through the first gate.
When he finally made his way down the mountain he was asked by a TV commentator “Alberto, what happened up there?” “What happened?”, Tomba asked in return somewhat incredulous offering no excuses. “I fell.” He then skied off.
Alberto Tomba didn’t win the Gold Medal that day as was predicted, but I will always remember his sound bite. The guy who won remains an unknown.
Embrace a Competitive Spirit
Try to follow this logic. If we were to play tennis, and just short of returning your first serve I declared you the winner, you would feel somewhat unfulfilled. Likewise, if I declared you the winner on the practice putting green – I don’t think you’d cherish the victory.
Similarly, why would a sales professional want to accept victory before having had the chance to earn it? Competition is what makes “the game” worth playing.
I am reminded of an interview between Howard Cosell (the lawyer turned commentator) and Jimmy “the Greek” Snyder (the famous Las Vegas odds maker). Howard asked Jimmy what he enjoyed best in life. Jimmy quickly responded, “Howard, that’s easy. I like to win.” Howard followed by asking “the Greek” what he liked second best in life. Jimmy responded just as quickly with, “Howard, that too is an easy one. I like to lose.”
Here was a man who found joy in playing the game… who took pleasure in the action. Win or lose, it was the competition that brought Jimmy to the table.
Message: It is important that you know how sales works. Understand that you can’t win them all. Learn to enjoy the competitive process. This will establish a healthy mindset resulting in your fair share of wins as your career moves forward.
Mike Marchev is always looking for a few more proactive travel professionals to join his Sales and Marketing Club. Send for details.
mike@mikemarchev.com.
One thought on “Enjoy Each Step Of The Journey”
yes, it’s always good to be reminded that it’s up to us but I’d like to hear a different version — seems like we’ve had this particular posting twice already in the last year or so….
🙂