Don't Hate Me Because I'm Enthusiastic

Start Me Up

Winston Churchill once said, "Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm." He would have made a great salesperson. After all, isn't that the essence of the sales profession? We call an endless list of prospects and very few of them want to speak with us. We network feverishly, yet meet precious few of the people we meet possess an inclination to buy what we sell and most are not in a position to do so anyway. And it is our fate we repeat these experiences day in and day out until we leave the profession. Failure is far more common than success; indeed, failure to achieve the desired results is the norm, not the exception. Of course, only salespeople who are willing to put up with this end up being successful. The others quickly tire of failure and get non-sales jobs. They literally fail at failing.

Are we, then, to conclude that great salespeople enjoy failing? Maybe somewhere there's such a person. But I've worked with thousands of very accomplished salespeople and I've yet to meet one that wasn't passionate about winning every deal that they possibly could. In fact, it may well be that the most successful hunter/closers actually dislike failure more than most people do. Not getting the result they seek just causes them to look harder for success. Further, I can tell you that the mechanism that keeps them going is not exactly what you might think it is. There is nuance to the phenomenon that would not be apparent to the casual observer.

My profession as a sales trainer/consultant/coach has afforded me the opportunity to have countless in-depth conversations with thousands of overachieving salespeople. I can tell you with absolute assurance that they are not the iron men and women that they may appear to be. Even the best of salespeople suffer from doubt and uncertainty. Many, on a fairly regular basis, consider quitting the profession. They do so in spite of the fact that the monetary rewards of selling are considerable. It's hard, damn hard, to face rejection every day. It's rough, real rough, to never know for sure whether or not you'll get paid until the commission check is actually in the bank. Sometimes earning a wage by punching a time clock seems pretty appealing. Still, many of us stay in the trade. Quite a few of us get rich.

It turns out that there's a secret. It's a secret that every military interrogation expert knows well. The threat of pain is more painful than the torture itself. People quickly adjust to, and learn to accept physical pain once it is inflicted on them. The threat of pain gives the interrogator leverage. The pain itself gives the prisoner release.

My guess is that right now you know exactly what to do to have a highly productive sales day. Some will chose to act on this knowledge in spite of any fear that they may feel. Three or four calls into their prospecting activity they'll forget all about whatever it was that was holding them back. They'll once again discover the simple fact that most of what salespeople do is an exciting adventure. That there isn't nearly as much rejection as they feared there would be and that it's not so painful anyway. They'll reaffirm that while prospects are seldom totally honest, they're almost always nice. Those who come out on top of the sales game know the secret. It's easy to finish. The trick is getting started.

Mark Fitzgerald, Sales Training Institute, Inc., Tampa, Florida provides this column weekly. Mr. Fitzgerald provides both group and customized sales training for professionals and companies. For more information, please contact him by telephone at 813-831-5555 via email at mark@saleskills.com or visit www.saleskills.com. © Copyright Mark Fitzgerald, 2009, All Rights Reserved.