The most successful people in any profession are usually the ones who are the "most committed to success in their chosen profession". Without real "what ever it takes" commitment, you'll end up in the middle of the pack doomed to be part of the 80% of sales people that do 20% of the business. You'll be an "amateur" not a true "professional" and your paycheck will show it!
To understand what commitment is it helps to look outside of our profession at examples of people that are truly committed to success in their chosen field. Being a Chicagoan, I need look no further than Walter Payton as a great example of someone "totally committed" to success in their chosen field. Walter was one of the hardest workers during the off season and that work paid off with not only great performance but durability few players have ever been able to match. Commitment to success goes way beyond "game performance" and relies much more on preparation. For sales people, this translates into "preparing" for the call and not just "making it".
"What is real commitment to the sales profession and how do I know if I have it"? Candidly, if you have to ask what real commitment is in sales you probably don't have it. True commitment in sales is the drive that puts everything else in your day "on hold" if it in anyway impedes your daily sales goals. I'm not suggesting that you become a martyr and make your sales career the "only thing in your life". However, during the day when you can be engaged in selling activities they must take priority over everything else (barring life threatening emergencies!). You've got to make a decision that you're willing to do "whatever it takes" (within legal and moral grounds) to succeed in your profession.
We'll talk about more commitment in future posts but part of being committed is finding things to do that will impact your performance and drive more successful results in your day to day selling activities. So,why not start today and identify something that you can do that can improve your results. If you can't think of anything specific, why not go back through some of the blog posts that I've written and commit to an action step that you currently don't take. Make it realistic, measurable, specific and you'll find your success will foster more of the commitment you need to succeed!
Action Step: Review posts on sales strategies and make a commitment to adopt a new behavior to implement and master.
I am in complete agreement, success is a full-time job and it takes a 100% commitment. You can't be half-in half-out. It just doesn't quite work that way. Thanks for the article, some good points!
Posted by: Sales Training | October 25, 2010 at 04:55 PM
Thanks for your note...keep reading and good luck.
Posted by: John Hirth | October 31, 2010 at 09:39 PM
_. When I look at your RSS feed this puts up a ton of rubbish, is the problem on my personal reader?
Posted by: Mervyn | January 31, 2012 at 05:24 AM
You have some honest review here. It looks like you have done a research on the issue and discovered.Anyway thanks a lot.I think most peoples will agree with your blog.Keep it up.
Posted by: v i a g r a | February 03, 2012 at 08:51 AM