Never Give Up

It was Super Bowl Sunday in 2005, and the New England Patriots were playing the Philadelphia Eagles. Everything was perfect for New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi as he waited with excited anticipation before the game, visualizing its outcome. Talk about pressure—the Patriots had a chance to win their third Super Bowl. He played with his young sons, both under the age of five at the time, on the field hours before game time; it was great that his wife Heidi came to the Alltel Stadium with the boys early so that he had some time with them before the game. He was motivated by more than simply winning this historic game; he wanted to show his sons that you can do anything you set out to do.

The game, like the day, could not have been more perfect for Bruschi. He had a sack, seven tackles, and an interception. He was only one story in a team filled with winners. The final score was 24–21, Patriots. They had done it!

It was almost impossible to go to sleep that night. In fact, Bruschi didn’t get to bed until 4:00 a.m. and then was up at the crack of dawn (literally) to appear on Good Morning America. The next few days were nonstop celebrations, interviews, and photographs. Life was indescribably good.

On February 16, 2005, just ten days later, Bruschi awoke at 4:00 a.m. with a headache and numbness in his body that was so severe that he had to crawl to the bathroom. Seven hours later things went from bad to worse when his vision blurred and he could no longer move his arm or leg. At the hospital he learned that he had had a stroke.Tedy Bruschi with Michael Holley, Never Give Up: My Stroke, My Recovery & My Return to the NFL (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2007).

After an agonizing recovery, eight months later Bruschi returned to the game he loved. He battled back to the field and played for four more seasons before retiring in August 2009. His teammate Larry Izzo said of Bruschi, “To come back from his stroke in ’05 and play four more seasons at such a high level, was nothing less than amazing. When I think of Tedy Bruschi, I think of his toughness, his courage, the passion and desire he played with, and his production. He made plays. He was a true warrior. The heart and soul of our team.”Karen Guregian, “Tedy Bruschi a Role Model to Pats, Fans,” Boston Herald, September 1, 2009, http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/football/patriots/view/20090901tedy_bruschi_a_role_model_to_pats_fans (accessed September 7, 2009).

What motivated Bruschi? It would have been enough just to survive a stroke, but to come back and play football at a professional level is almost unthinkable. Most players don’t ever make the cut to play in the NFL, but Bruschi survived a life-threatening stroke and came back to play at the top of his game. His passion, drive, and will to survive and win outpaced even his physical challenges.

You Can Do It!

“Don’t Stop Believin’,” the number one hit from the rock band Journey in 1981, became the anthem for the Chicago White Sox throughout the 2005 season in which the team won the their first World Series championship after eighty-eight years.Mark Newman, “Soxabration: Reliving 2005,” White Sox, March 27, 2006, http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/cws/history/championship05.jsp (accessed January 3, 2010). The song was more than background music for the team; it became the promise to their fans…and themselves throughout the season.

Is being successful in sales as easy as having a great song or a catchy slogan? Not really. In fact, the White Sox were far from being the favorites at the beginning of the season. After all, eighty-eight years is a long time to go without a championship. No one really believed they could do it. But even when others might not see your vision, you have to believe in yourself even when things don’t go your way. Successful sales professionals will tell you that’s what it takes to make it in sales: an unwavering belief in yourself that you can achieve the goals you set. Hard work? Absolutely. Setbacks? Just about every day. Believing in yourself? As they say, priceless.Priceless.com, http://www.priceless.com/us/personal/en/index.html (accessed September 7, 2009).

Motivation is especially important in sales because you will hear no more than you will hear yes. Your motivation, goals, and drive to succeed will make you successful.

You can do it, but only if you believe you can. What is the difference between the salesperson who makes $1 million a year and one that makes $50,000? It is the belief in himself that he can achieve her goals. It starts with a positive mental attitude every day. That means making the most of every day and taking control of your plan to accomplish your goals. “Motivation is an inside job. It’s up to you,” according to sales expert and author Jim Meisenheimer.Jim Meisenheimer, “25 Ways to Get Motivated to Start Selling More,” EvanCarmichael.com, http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/407/25-Ways-To-Get-Motivated-To-Start-Selling-More.html (accessed August 19, 2009). Here are a few of his tips from his article “25 Ways to Get Motivated to Start Selling More”:

• Take pictures of your top ten customers and top ten prospects. Put the pictures in clear view (your computer wallpaper, on your cell phone, on your refrigerator) along with your SMART goal for each one. This visual reminder will help you stay focused.
• Tell your family how you are going to celebrate together when you become the number one salesperson at your company. You will make your goal real by telling someone close to you, and you will have their support to get through the challenging days.
• Invest fifteen minutes every day to read articles, books, blogs, listen to podcasts, or view videos about your industry or the selling profession. Sellingpower.com, Salesandmarketing.com, bnet.com, SalesHQ.com, and SalesVantage.com are all excellent sources of information about selling.
• Before the year ends, write yourself a check for December 31 of the next year for the amount you want to earn. Make three copies and have each laminated. Put one in your brief case, one on your car console, and one in your office. When you look at it every day, ask yourself, “What can I do today to get closer to this goal?”Jim Meisenheimer, “25 Ways to Get Motivated to Start Selling More,” EvanCarmichael.com, http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/407/25-Ways-To-Get-Motivated-To-Start-Selling-More.html (accessed August 19, 2009).

Fail...to Succeed

It may seem counterintuitive, but the best way to succeed is to fail. The fact is, failures can be a positive experience because they can help you avoid repeating mistakes.Stacy Blackman, “Want to Succeed? Learn How to Fail,” BNET, July 21, 2009, http://blogs.bnet.com/mba/?p=962 (accessed September 7, 2009). Since failures are much more painful than the sweet taste of success, we tend to remember our failures more vividly.Dave Kahle, “Learning from Failure,” American Salesman, February 2009, http://www.davekahle.com/article/learningfromfailure.html (accessed May 16, 2010). But as important as the actual failure is what you do as a result of the experience. “You don’t have control over what happens to you in life,” says Lisa Peskin, sales trainer at Business Development University, “but you absolutely have control over how you choose to handle it.”Lisa Peskin, “Top 10 Secrets of Selling in a Recession” Philadelphia Business Journal Workshop, Philadelphia, PA, July 29, 2009. Peskin has over twenty years of experience in business-to-business (B2B) selling. To overcome the feeling of failure especially on daily sales calls, she suggests the “rocking chair test”: will you remember that someone said no to you today when you are sitting in a rocking chair fifty years from now? “Don’t get upset over the small stuff” is her advice to salespeople. “If you want something you never had, you must do something you’ve never done, and that may result in some failures, but a lot of successes.”Lisa Peskin, “Top 10 Secrets of Selling in a Recession,” Philadelphia Business Journal Workshop, Philadelphia, PA, July 29, 2009.

It might be hard to imagine that successful people ever had failures. But Shantanu Narayen, CEO of software maker Adobe Systems, says, “You know, there is no such thing as failure. You’re always learning.” He goes on to share his personal experiences: “I have looked back at aspects of my career where somebody might look at it and say, you know, that start-up was not successful, and I look at it and I say, ‘I learned how to build a team, how to raise money, how to sell a vision, how to create a product.’ It was a great steppingstone for me.”Adam Bryant, “Connecting the Dots Isn’t Enough,” New York Times, July 19, 2009, business, 2.

Failure is a fact of life. Although the White Sox were eventually named World Champions again in 2005, each member of the team missed more balls than they hit. In baseball, a 0.333 batting average is considered outstanding (Ty Cobb’s average, the highest in baseball is 0.366), which means that the batter misses almost seven times out of every ten at bats. Similarly, an average of 70 percent of people who walk into a retail store don’t buy anything, and 99 percent of people who visit a company’s Web site don’t make a purchase.Baseball Almanac, “Career Leaders for Batting Average,” http://www.baseball-almanac.com/hitting/hibavg1.shtml (accessed September 7, 2009).^,Amanda Ferrante, “Retailers Counting on Conversion to Drive Store Metrics,” Retail Store Ops Blog, March 17, 2008, http://retailstoreops.blogspot.com/2008/03/retailers-counting-on-conversion.html (accessed September 7, 2009).^,The Conversion Chronicles, http://www.conversionchronicles.com/, September 7, 2009 (accessed May 16, 2010). So, it is inevitable that you will have to fail in order to succeed. But that doesn’t mean that failure should become a way of life. With failure comes personal responsibilityAcknowledging and accepting that you are accountable for your choices., acknowledging and accepting that you are accountable for the choices you make with your prospects and customers, in your career, and in life. Someone who is personally responsible doesn’t rationalize why a failure occurs, doesn’t blame others, and doesn’t feel sorry for himself. Here are four simple steps that can help you turn failure into growth:

1. Objectively analyze your role in the failure. What did you do that may have caused an outcome other than the one your preferred?
2. Imagine if you had done something different. What impact would it have had on the outcome?
3. Determine what prompted you to take the actions you took.
4. Decide that when the situation occurs again, you will do something differently.Dave Kahle, “Learning from Failure,” American Salesman, February 2009, http://www.davekahle.com/article/learningfromfailure.html (accessed May 16, 2010).

Failure is about learning and taking personal responsibility, which can be the key to your personal success. “The price of greatness is responsibility,” said Winston Churchill.Wayne Mansfield, “Seven Tips for Handling Stress in Challenging Times,” Article Dashboard, http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/7-Tips-for-Handling-Stress-in-Challenging-Times/612133 (accessed September 8, 2009).

Unfortunately, you are going to hear no more often in sales than you hear yes. In fact, no is part of the game of sales. But don’t take it personally. “Don’t get dejected when you’ve been rejected—just get your skills perfected,” is advice from selling expert and author Harvey Mackay.Harvey Mackay, “8 Tips for Handling Rejection,” WMAR-ABC2, July 5, 2009, http://www.abc2news.com/content/financialsurvival/yourjob/story/8-tips-for-handling-rejection/dM-Sg9DHiEaJcmqMgDp44w.cspx (accessed September 9, 2009). No is what helps you hear yes. Of course, you wouldn’t expect every prospect you contact to buy your product or service. Think about it: do you buy everything that is pitched to you? So it is hearing no that helps you fine-tune your sales presentation to ultimately hear yes.Hal Becker, “Become a Pro at Dealing with Rejection, and You’ll Win More often at the Sales Game,” Kansas City Business Journal, March 4, 2005, http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2005/03/07/smallb6.html (accessed May 16, 2010). There should be no fear in no.

Positive Energy from a Healthy Mind and Body

It’s virtually impossible to be successful in sales and in life if you don’t take care of yourself. Conflicting priorities; lack of time; demands of work, family, and friends; the negativity of some people; and even the state of the economy can take a toll on you. Stress is a real part of everyday life; unfortunately there is no magic formula to avoid it. But you can learn to balance work and your personal life for a better balance and potentially less stress.