The Most Overlooked Trait to Winning More Deals… Creating Better Luck

I have been successfully selling and leading sales for over 30 years. Throughout that time, in all the years of training, practicing my presentations, researching my clients, and attending countless business reviews and pipeline calls, seldom have we ever built into our plans the strategy of how to be luckier than the rest. I’m not dismissing the skill that goes into selling. I just recognize that every sale also has an element of luck. Luck that you can most likely control.

The notion that luck plays a role in sales outcomes I am sure will be pushed to the side by many salespeople. The thought that anything played a contributing role to their success, other than their own finely honed selling skills, I am sure will simply be ridiculous. I get it. Sales is a world of high pressure and proving yourself every day by the only real way it can be proved: go sell something. In return, the seller is praised for a job well done and is credited for their skills in doing so.

I am not going to attempt to sway the reader into believing salespeople do not have the numerous attributes necessary to be the best at their role. Being a salesperson who consistently wins new business is a skill and a level of persistence many people might never possess. I will, however, simply throw out the notion that all that skill is also helped by a dash or more of luck along the way. Luck the salesperson themselves are very likely to influence whether they realize it or not.

I, for one, believe luck exists. I also believe that as salespeople, we can create our own luck and control it in our favor. Yet, I don’t see luck as just the outcome we receive, but more as those things we do in advance of receiving the outcome that influenced luck more in our favor for the outcome to have occurred.

Many writings have been made related to “what is luck” and “the science of luck”. I am going to refrain from being too scientific in this article and simply address how I see luck playing a role within the profession of sales.

Distinguishing Different Types of Luck

Within sales, luck has multiple ways to occur. In my consideration of this subject, I will discuss 3 ways luck plays a role in the salesperson’s ability to win new business.

Blind Luck (also known as dumb luck for this article)

As simply stated, the salesperson had a deal fall into their lap. We often refer to these as “bluebirds”, yet we have all had them and we all want them. Yet in the discussion of luck, it is simply just dumb luck to have a deal occur out of nowhere that no previous effort was made to create the existence of the opportunity.

I don’t want to diminish this level of luck too much. However, in this level of luck, it is typically related to some unplanned business that was received yet took no effort from the seller to create. The seller was just the recipient of a deal that came in without notice, and all they had to do was be the person in the right place to pick up the phone and take the order. Again, we as salespeople all want these in our life, but they cannot be considered a true sales skill to receive this level of arbitrary call from someone we have never spoken with previously or attempted to contact.

Actionable Luck

With actionable luck, the salesperson is actively pursuing new relationships to develop new opportunities. This includes phone calls, emails, activity on social media, and face-to-face meetings.

Why is this luck better? More so, why is it considered luck? The salesperson is taking a proactive approach to placing themselves in a better position to be recognized and considered as a provider of choice when a prospective customer decides to purchase something. Yes, the salesperson is utilizing their skills to get engaged with the prospect and prove value, but by taking a proactive approach to become engaged with a prospect with a need, their luck increases significantly. Had they never made a phone call or met with the prospect, the odds are more favorable that they and their company would never have been considered. They would have been unknown with no opportunity for consideration.

With actionable luck, the level of effort may just be a quantity of effort versus quality of effort. That is fine. Sales skills will be on display at this level. Typically, a salesperson will be so active at this level with many prospects that their selling skills will be tested and honed as they engage with many potential customers and refine their skills along the way.

Some effort is better than no effort at all when it comes to improving your luck. Remember, a seller with no deals to work on has a zero percent chance to win new business, other than what dumb luck throws their way. But a seller actively pursuing building a pipeline of deals stands a greater chance to identify deals that could be won.

The next level of luck, Planned Luck, will focus better on what I believe matters most in becoming a great salesperson, which is increasing your luck with the highest quality of effort for every engagement.

Planned Luck

For me, this is where the differentiation is elevated between those salespeople at the top of the stack rankings and those languishing in the middle. Those who strategize and plan to create improved luck with more aligned prospects and those who just bang out phone call after phone call in the hopes of bumping into a prospect with a need at that moment.

Planned luck occurs more frequently and with improved financial outcomes because the salesperson is doing research on which prospects within their account base (or geography) are best aligned to need what they sell. This is not calling 100 prospects hoping 5 will buy something quickly, but rather identifying the 10-20 prospects who are an ideal fit for everything the salesperson sells within their portfolio per se. The prospects who will derive a high level of value from what the salesperson provides over a long-lasting relationship.

Planned luck, however, is structured. It takes time, planning, a targeted approach, an action plan, training, practicing your message, evaluation and analysis, and a great deal of preparation. When you do all of that well, your luck increases exponentially over your competition as it removes the gap of differentiation and swings more potential for luck in your favor. Your prospects will see the difference and value in that level of work, which greatly improves your ability to finalize a great deal with your sales skills.

Luck exists in sales, and you can be more in control. As salespeople, it is our job to improve our luck and control how lucky we become.