If at First You Don't Succeed – Quit Whining, Keep Selling!

The road to a sale can be a bumpy one. While some travel that bumpy road with ease, many waste their time whining about the bumps and eventually end up quitting. These people quit because they are looking for quick answers, perfect scripts, and easy “how to” instructions. They just don’t have what it takes to keep trying for that sale.

Newsflash: Sales success doesn’t come from an answer in some book you’ve read, or from following the instructions that your company has laid out for you. Success in sales comes from living (and selling) by a set of principles that you have made completely your own.

Most salespeople disregard sound principles because they aren’t the quick-fix answers they are looking for. These same people think that principles are too “soft.” Sure, they may seem soft, but they are very powerful. So powerful, that if you don’t make the time or effort to understand them, you will lose to someone who does.

Take a hard look at yourself. How tough are you? How do you handle pressure? How much time do you spend whining? Lack of persistence is a symptom of laziness, apathy, ignorance, and other equally pathetic reasons why salespeople suck at their jobs. You must relentlessly pursue victory if you ever expect to achieve it.

If you want to have this kind of persistence, you must have the qualities that will develop and encourage it:

Definite Purpose: Know what you want â€" EXACTLY what you want, in definite terms. Without this specific, personal understanding of what you want, your persistence will be nothing more than roadkill.

Desire: You gotta want it, baby! If desire burns deep and strong within you, you will have the strength and courage to survive the difficult times.

Self-Reliance: Stop waiting for others to do things for you. Stop going to others for leadership and find it in yourself! Develop and rely on your OWN abilities. Your belief in your ability to finish the job fuels the persistence you will need to do it.

Definite plan: You must have a definite and organized plan, regardless of its flaws and imperfections. Your plan will sustain and encourage your ability to remain persistent.

Accurate knowledge: Knowing that your ideas are valid, through experience or observation, will give you the confidence to stay persistent. Repeatedly guessing, instead of knowing, kills everything you have been working for. Stop guessing â€" Google it!

Cooperation: If you’re going to be persistent, you must have the ability to play well with others. Empathy, understanding, and encouragement from those around you go a long way towards developing persistence.

Willpower: You choose what you think about all day long. Take control of your thoughts and you can accomplish anything! Dedicate these thoughts to developing a purpose and plan. Persistence will follow.

Habit: Your mind feeds on your experiences and forms habits. When your mind is consumed with the picture of victory, persistence becomes habit. There is no magic switch you can flip to become persistent; it will only take hold when it has become second nature.

Victory comes when you understand that there is no textbook way to make a sale. People buy from people â€" spend time becoming a better person. Have your own set of principles that will give you the drive to follow your plan and purpose.

Still seem too soft for you? Think of it this way: making these principles the backbone of your work will give you the tireless determination to beat your competitors every time. Sure, you could waste your time whining about lost sales and looking for a quick fix, but wouldn’t you rather be making money?

Tom Richard conducts seminars on sales and customer service topics nationwide. Tom is also the author of Smart Salespeople Don't Advertise: 10 Ways to Outsmart Your Competition With Guerilla Marketing, and publishes a free weekly ezine on selling skills titled Sales Muscle. To subscribe to this free weekly ezine go to http://www.tomrichard.com/subscribe