You just don’t get it.

That’s what I wanted to say to a guy this weekend and what I want to say to a lot of people these days.

Over the weekend my wife and I went to a comedy show and the headliner, Ian Bragg, was someone I had heard of since he had been on “Last Comic Standing.” The opening acts were good but Ian’s set was hysterical. So, I lit up FB Live for a few minutes to share a portion of his set with some of my Facebook audience. I assumed many may not have heard of this guy and I wanted to get him some exposure for his next show. I broadcasted for about 60 seconds and the title of my post was “This guy is hysterical” and I included a link to his bio.

On the way out of the show I heard someone ask the guy behind me what he thought about the set. He said Ian was great, but “Shouldn’t have been recorded like that” which was an obvious dig at me. I was too far ahead and too drunk to care but I almost wanted to turn around and tell him that he just didn’t get it. The 60 seconds I recorded of the guy didn’t take money out of his pocket, it probably added to it.

Now I know a lot of people are going to say, “Well John, there are rules like that for a reason and people don’t want to be recorded blah blah blah.” I get it, I do. But it made me think of the larger topic that I think is important. Too many people are too focused on the short-term and the small stuff when they should be a bit more focused on the bigger picture and the long-term. They just don’t get it. This relates to everything – our jobs, careers, and life in general.

As for our jobs, specifically in sales, many of us push to close out the quarter strong and to get that last deal in. We end up giving away discounts to clients that didn’t even ask for one which tends to ruin the relationship and rapport we worked so hard to build. Or, we try to sell someone something that isn’t really the right fit because we need a commission check. Reps just don’t get it. These both might drive short-term wins but ultimately do longer term damage to your relationship and your personal brand as a sales rep.

Another example relates to competition. I think many of us are too fixated on it. I remember getting so consumed with my competition that I would focus more on selling against them instead of selling to my client. I would lose site of the bigger picture (the client) and, when I did I would usually lose that deal.

Finally, in the sales training world, it’s amazing how many trainers covet their content and IP and will try to protect it at all costs. Try getting a trainer to e-mail you a PDF of their presentation or manuals and see how they react. They think their content is really that special. I’m here to tell you it’s not. Give me a technique or methodology and Google and I can put together 95% of whatever it is. Ultimately this approach of protecting IP at all costs will lead to customers finding ways around it regardless. I share the majority of my content and I’m busier now than I’ve ever been in my entire career. I like to think â€œI get it.”

One of my 12 Guiding Principles is “What goes around comes around” and I believe that now more than ever. Doing the right thing in the short term leads to longer term success almost every time. Try to take a bigger picture perspective on things and stop sweating the small stuff so much.

Make it happen!

P.S. Check out my Make It Happen Mondays on FB Live from 12:30-1:00pm EST every Monday where I pick topics and answer any question you have about sales/business/life: https://www.facebook.com/JBarrows/