Thoughts on success, self-improvement and life coaching is popular among sales professionals. Does this then mean for us to be successful we have to become a sales person?
On one hand, it does make some sense. When we say we want to be successful, what we often mean is we want to be happy, and maybe to be in control of the world. The best we can hope to achieve is control of our thoughts, actions and reactions to what happens in the world. It is only by controlling their thoughts, actions and reactions has anyone that we might think is successful become successful, discounting of course royalty that have a guaranteed role and status they will achieve pretty much no matter what they do.
I'm assuming that if you are reading this that you are probably a human being, so if you agree that your goal is to be able to control your thoughts, actions and reactions, you are saying that you want to be able to control human thoughts, actions and reactions. This skill of influencing humans is exactly what sales professionals spend much of their life learning. How can they influence their customers to purchase their product. So from that side it makes sense if we are thinking about financial and material success.
How about for other things like health, mental ability or relationships? If you want to be healthy or lose weight, does that have anything to do with being a salesperson? Does it require prospecting? How about learning a new skill, like a new language? When thinking about these areas of success, the salesperson analogy starts to less clear.
Or, how about yesterday's story about trying to save one's life? I don't see how being a good salesperson had anything to do with that success story.
So, I think the goal of being a salesperson is not a sufficient or even necessary requirement for success. Still the current plan of having a goal or vision and taking regular action towards that goal seems like a reasonable formula for success.
I think parts of the pieces that are missing are what keeps us from consistently taking the steps necessary to honestly achieve the level of success we profess to want?
On one hand, it does make some sense. When we say we want to be successful, what we often mean is we want to be happy, and maybe to be in control of the world. The best we can hope to achieve is control of our thoughts, actions and reactions to what happens in the world. It is only by controlling their thoughts, actions and reactions has anyone that we might think is successful become successful, discounting of course royalty that have a guaranteed role and status they will achieve pretty much no matter what they do.
I'm assuming that if you are reading this that you are probably a human being, so if you agree that your goal is to be able to control your thoughts, actions and reactions, you are saying that you want to be able to control human thoughts, actions and reactions. This skill of influencing humans is exactly what sales professionals spend much of their life learning. How can they influence their customers to purchase their product. So from that side it makes sense if we are thinking about financial and material success.
How about for other things like health, mental ability or relationships? If you want to be healthy or lose weight, does that have anything to do with being a salesperson? Does it require prospecting? How about learning a new skill, like a new language? When thinking about these areas of success, the salesperson analogy starts to less clear.
Or, how about yesterday's story about trying to save one's life? I don't see how being a good salesperson had anything to do with that success story.
So, I think the goal of being a salesperson is not a sufficient or even necessary requirement for success. Still the current plan of having a goal or vision and taking regular action towards that goal seems like a reasonable formula for success.
I think parts of the pieces that are missing are what keeps us from consistently taking the steps necessary to honestly achieve the level of success we profess to want?
RSS Feed