This Might Not Work

Earlier this week, my team and I started our book club series with The Little Red Book of Selling .?It was the first?sales book I read that made sense to me, and quite frankly, it?made me think I might be able to succeed, so it felt like a fitting start.?

A couple of my reps mentioned this passage as provocative:

Make Mistakes. The best teacher is failure. It's the rudest of awakenings, and the breeding ground for self-determination. Don't think of them as mistakes- think of them as learning experiences not to be repeated. How willing are you to make mistakes?

It was fun to sit back and tell a few stories in the meeting about some of our mistakes. We even laughed about a lot of them.?

I've made a ton of mistakes

I've said the absolute worst thing at the wrong time and put my foot in my mouth. I've done what I thought was the right thing and ended up with egg on my face. Sometimes good intentions create?the wrong kind of tension. Note: We'll come back to the intention part in a minute.

A lot of things you read in books or see on social media?work well in theory, but they get really tricky in the real world.?

• You don't sell (or work) in a vacuum.
• People are the ultimate x-factor.
• There's a whole lot more that goes into selling than the number of calls you make and even the words you say on them.

Skillsets don't let sales teams down as often as systems do. So, the "right thing to do" may not be the right thing for you. My point is that you will try things that should but don't work. It's still a win if you're able to understand why. ?

This might not work

A lot of you have heard me talk about selling as an art form. The process is a science, but your methods are the art. If the process is stout, then your art will be able to flourish.

Seth Godin says what makes someone an artist is their willingness to say, "This?might not work," and still do it anyway. It's a comfort level that most of us have to grow into.?

It's not easy to choose the uncertain path that might be worth taking. It would be much easier with a tried-and-true map (or script) that guarantees results. I've been selling for?almost twenty years, and I haven't found one.

I'll let you know if I do but don't hold your breath. If you wait for certainty, you'll find that you don't get much done.

The path to success

As much as our teachers and coaches would like us to believe, there's no straight path to success. The journey is full of twists, turns, switchbacks, and apparent dead ends. You'll go too fast sometimes, too slow in others, and make occasional wrong turns.

All of these are going to frustrate you and feel big in?the moment. The real test will be how you respond. Do you correct your course? Do?you make good on the mishap? Do you learn something that helps you move forward?

Oh yeah, that bit about intent? It matters a ton. Anytime you can explain what you were trying to accomplish and why, and it's in the service of something bigger and more productive, it's usually pretty simple to walk it back. This is another reason why should always have others' (especially your customers') best interests in mind when you make business decisions.

Be decisive, fail fast, learn, correct your course, and keep moving forward. It's the only way you'll ever really learn to Sell Like You.

Until next week,

JB