Sales Training London: Fail Your Way to Success in Small Business
Sales Training London: Fail Your Way to Success in Small Business
Shock is often the first reaction I have when I fail, even if I saw it coming. It hurts, I
smart then the disbelief sets in and I start to question, "Why me?", "Why now?" and
then resentment starts to take hold. "It's not fair", "It shouldn't have happened to me",
"I worked so hard", "I really needed that to work". Hopefully I begin to accept it as a
reality, it's happened, it's history and there's nothing I can do about that. But I can do
something about it in the future.
I can choose to act, I can decide and I can take preventative or remedial action. I can
set better goals, I can focus on the things I want instead of focusing on the things I
don't want.
There is a theory to which I subscribe around the Law of Attraction. Focus on
anything and sure enough that tends to come to you. Focus on your "failure" and the
impact that is having on you and sure enough, you fail and fail and fail again. Focus
on how stupid you were and you'll relive that stupidity time and again. Focus on your
debts and you get deeper in debt. Focus on not being able to close sales and you will
continue letting qualified prospects who have problems that you can fix, and both the
will and the ability to make a decision and pay you to help them fix it, within a defined
timetable, slip through your fingers.
This paper is intended to help you recognise these symptoms, uncover the secrets of
how you can make success come to you through your failures and take meaningful,
decisive action towards your success.
Why is Failure Part of the Human Condition?
Experience can be defined as the bringing together of your mistakes, bad choices,
terrible decisions and stupid actions as lessons learned and applied. Failure is
inevitable, it is simply part of the human condition. Accept it and realise that nothing
perfect can be created until it already exists. You have to make mistakes to learn
your lessons. Don't let that allow you to waste scarce time getting ready to get ready.
Learning lessons from your failure is a sign of growth. Failure is a sign of strength not weakness. Failure helps you to become stronger, wiser, leaner, more effective but
only if you learn and apply your lessons. Failure in small business comes in all
shapes and sizes. I failed in the selection of my business partner and in how I
managed that relationship. I failed in setting my business up on a strong financial
footing and have fought tooth and nail to survive month after month, day after day as
a result. I failed to follow my own lessons and became complacent in my success so
when contracts were cancelled without notice I had no fall back position. I failed to
listen to my instincts on so many things, most notably a key network contact whose
activities have left me at fault in my judgement but I'm now 3 years back from where I
was as a result.
Nothing I did happened by accident. As I write this I'm heavily overweight and unfit.
Never in my life have I accidentally eaten anything! I am responsible for my condition
and it is up to me, no one else, to recognise that and do something about this. I could
dwell on my "slow metabolism" (also my own fault for acting like a sloth!), my busy
lifestyle (my choice), my constant tiredness (my choice to sleep only a few hours,
work long hours, struggle, devote hundreds of hours a year to learn and improve,
satisfy the needs of my clients, help my network), my lack of family time (again my choice to focus on generating the income we need to put my 3 daughters through a
good education and live in a rural setting).
I made these choices, I failed many times along the way, I still fail and I will in the
future on my road to success.
What is True Failure?
Repetition of the same mistakes time and again is really failing. It's a monumental
mistake to keep doing the same thing time and again and expect a different result. I
think that not trusting your gut, your instincts is a sure fire way to achieve failure.
Acceptance of the status quo is a major form of failure too. Nothing great is achieved
by settling for the "way things have always been done". The words "that's the way
things are done around here" without questioning that "truth" and the underlying
beliefs behind it simply invite trouble. Maybe not today, but your competition is sitting
on there arses, twiddling their thumbs aren't they. They accept that change is
impossible too don't they?
Read Felix Dennis's book "How to Get Rich" if you want to learn about the
importance of failure, risk taking and trusting your gut. Also recognise that to get rich,
you're going to have to do some things you won't like doing, you're going to have to
make some tough choices and you're going to have to sacrifice a lot to get there.
You'll also have to give a damn about what other's think about you. You have to get
tough, get focused and get motivated to do whatever is necessary to succeed in your
small business, especially if you want to make it a big business.
Success in business does not equate to happiness in life. It may come, it may not,
but you're going to have to a lot of things that won't make you happy in the shortterm.
Long hours, tough negotiation, saying "no" to things that get in your way, firing
people, suppliers, partners who are holding you back or damaging your progress are
the realities of success.
Failure, true failure is not learning the lessons, especially the toughest lessons that
mean you aren't always lovable. "The fear of failure is understandable, but
misguided. If you give a damn what the neighbours think, you'll never be rich", says
Dennis.
Why is Failure Good in Business?
Learning is the greatest reward of failure. To learn you have to recognise the causes
of your failures. Are they your fault, are they a result of your timing, your
circumstances, the economy, your pricing, your communication style, your approach
to selling, to marketing, your behaviour, your attitudes, your hiring decisions, your
neediness in front of customers, your inability to say no, your poor cash-flow
management, your poor qualification of opportunities or the amount of free consulting
you give with no return for your efforts? This list is just the tip of the iceberg when it
comes to finding the causes of your failures. Make your own, record what happens,
document how and when you were rejected, identify what possible reasons there
may have been for that rejection. Put yourself in your client or prospect's shoes and
ask "If I were them and someone had done, said or reacted in that way to me,
knowing what I know about them, would I have kicked me into touch too?"
Instinct is one of your most powerful tools to achieve success. Never discount your
gut. If your guts are telling you something is wrong, listen carefully to what you're
hearing and uncover why you feel that way. But above all, seek to gain something
from all of your failures.
In a selling context failure is not, not getting a deal, it's not getting a lesson, its not
getting a referral. You can't hope to sell to everyone, not everyone will like you, not
everyone needs what you have to offer and not everyone is willing to receive your
help. Accept that. But don't accept that there is nothing to be gained from your
failures.
Scar tissue and plenty of it is what separates the men from the boys. Felix Dennis
started out small and grew to become one of the richest men in the UK. He built his
empire by throwing money, time and resources at risky ventures. Today he still
encourages his managers to spend money and make mistakes. "If the worst happens
and they spend a few million and only get half of it back, it's not the end of the world
- at least they'll have learned a few lessons".
Who do you know who's achieved anything big or meaningful without lots of scar
tissue, sleepless nights and pressure? If your back is against the wall that is when
you can really prove your mettle. I make mistake after mistake, generally now they're
different mistakes to those I've made previously (I am learning, slowly but I'm
learning), but I welcome them as opportunities to learn.
Learn from the scar tissue of others too. Speak to people like you who face the same
problems you face, people who've overcome them, people who are stuck in a rut (a
rut is a coffin with both ends kicked out!) and see what they're doing to self harm,
replicate their bad luck and learn how not to do that in your business.
How Can You Avoid Repeated Failure?
Record your mistakes. Have a plentiful supply of 3x5 inch index cards, and write
down what happens. On the reverse write down what you could have done or said
differently. Write down the questions you could have asked back to a customer who
had an objection to get better information, to understand their concern better, to get
them to handle their own objection for themselves.
Journal, every day. Write down your goals for the day relating to your behaviours and
your attitudes. Write down what you did and record where you were successful and
what lessons you learned form your failures. Make yourself accountable to yourself
and to others. Take on a mentor or a coach, be that in a formal arrangement or form
a "think tank" or support group. In small business you have to do everything until you
can afford to hire. When you hire, can you delegate or do you feel the need to keep a
firm grip on everything? Then question your purpose for hiring or your hiring
decisions. A journal is one of the most powerful ways you have to keep on track and
prevents you from hiding from yourself, from lying to yourself and from having no
point of reference to fall back on when you see the early signs of failure looming.
Review your journal regularly to see where change began to happen in your
business, to learn and reinforce your hard earned lessons. Review your position
regularly to see where you've come from and where you're headed. Is who you're
becoming the person, entrepreneur or leader the one you want to become? Does
your behaviour serve you or hurt you? Reviewing your journal regularly helps you to
move towards your success.
Journal the lessons you learned. Put a value on each lesson. I left £28 million behind
in lost sales over 17 years by not controlling the sale from the off. That equates to
£8.4 million in lost commissions. My lesson on selecting partners has cost me over
£260,000 so far and counting. My lesson about keeping the pipeline filled cost me
over £1.9 million. My lesson about ruthless qualification cost me about 300 hours a
year for 17 years and £12 million. How much do your lessons cost you?
Why Should You Fail Big and Often?
Apathy is the death knell of success in business. In you, in your employees, in your
partners, the biggest single reason customers and personnel leave you is they don't
feel you love them any more i.e. perceived indifference. 10 years in recruitment
taught me the biggest reason salespeople left their jobs was because they didn't feel
valued at their current company. How many customers have you lost because you
didn't appear to care for them? How many of you even know why you lose
customers? Do you ever ask?
Failing in this way can be immensely rewarding. Ask why you failed, always ask why.
Get past symptom and identify the cause. You can only fix things when you know
their cause, putting sticking plaster on a cancer won't fix anything long term.
Being poor is a condition, being broke is a state of mind. You may not be earning
what you want now, but risk often and risk big and you will hit pay dirt. It comes back
to the Law of Attraction. THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT ALL THE TIME and by
strange coincidence you start to attract the people and circumstances to help you
succeed. Don't just "try it", do it. Do it now. Write down what you want even if you risk
failing, ridicule, rejection, not being liked.
Commit to doing whatever is necessary to achieve your desired result, success.
What is Sacrifice?
Value is the starting point of understanding sacrifice. If you lose your life trying to
save your own child is that a sacrifice? If you lose your life saving a stranger who is
drowning is that a sacrifice? You probably place a higher value on the life of your
child than you do on your own, so that isn't a sacrifice, where as you probably place
a higher value on your life than that of a total stranger, so that is a sacrifice; does that
make sense?
Sacrifice is giving something of a higher value for something of a lesser value. If you
decide to risk something of a lower value for something of a greater value in your
business that makes good sense to me. Risk your current level of comfort for growth,
greater market share, bigger customers and you have my support. If you have
customers who are a pain in the arse, who make your life hell, who cost you too
much and you replace them with customers who are decisive, pay for what they ask
and don't expect more than they have agreed, who pay on time, who pay well, is that
a sacrifice? I don't think so. But it is a risk. Leaving behind safe income (even if it is
unprofitable you feel good that you're earning something) is a scary proposition
precisely because it's a risk …. but it isn't a sacrifice.
Why Risk?
Danger is always present whenever you risk. You could lose something, or
everything. It's interesting that in the States many venture capitalists won't invest in
any entrepreneur (you notice I don't say their business but I point to the individual)
unless they've been bankrupted at least 3 times. These are people who have a lot of
money and generally don't squander it unless they think they can get a return. So
why do they invest in repeated failures?
Pressure in business is immense. It is a dog eat dog world and there are no prizes
for trying, for having the better idea but coming second, the bank doesn't give you
extra credit for being original. Winning is what matters most. That's predicated by
knowing how to lose …. and learn from it.
You're in business for many reasons but unless making a profit is the one that you
have at the forefront of your mind, you won't be in business for long. But a life without
risk is a life without growth.
Direction is important in your risk strategy. Know where you're headed (it comes back
to those pesky goals again) and know where you are in relation to where you want to
be. Focus on what you want, focus on what you want.
Why Being an "At-Leaster" is the Greatest Form of Failure?
Settle for your lot in life and you've all you deserve. This isn't a popular view but to
me this is a cardinal sin against God and Man. "At least I didn't get creamed", "at
least I didn't lose everything", "at least I made my mortgage payment this month" -
these are the words of an at-leaster. The worst kind of businessperson. Not an
entrepreneur. If all you want is a lifestyle business then you're welcome to it, but
you're probably OK that taxes are going up all the time, that there's more red tape,
that the Chinese can manufacture cheaper than us, that the Indians can undercut us
on price for outsourced services.
Do you think for a moment that your Chinese or Indian counterpart is saying "I need
more balance in my life" or is he saying "Thank you Volkswagon employees for
engineering the EU working time directive, so I can be even more competitive and
take even more market share from my European rivals"? Did you know that there is a
new Chinese $dollar millionaire made every 28 seconds? Feeling good about your
business now?
Give up giving up. Never, never, never settle, never stop striving and never settle for
settling for the status quo - unless you don't mind being turned into minced meat. If
your competition creeps up on you and you've settled you have only yourself to
blame and no one should offer you a shred of sympathy. The world is tough. On a
social level your wife or husband may be preyed on by a randy suitor (competitor). At
work your job is only safe as long as you make it so and even that is up to the whim
of others. In business as in life the ability to keep striving through the continuous
failures separates those who crash on the rocks below and those who eventually
triumph.
Why You're A Product of Your Failures and Decisions
Acceptance that failure is an essential part of the human condition is a fine lesson in
itself. The realisation that all those blunders, those knock-backs, rejections, kicks in
the teeth and every other part of your anatomy were leading you to this point in your
life. Every choice you ever made, every decision (or indecision) led you to this
moment. You made those choices.
Defeat is a condition; resignation is a state of mind. Victory is far from assured even if
you learn from your mistakes. Your path through failure is a journey not an event and
is never certain in either its outcome or path. But if you're resigned to being a victim
it's certain you will always be a failure. Make the effort; take the risks; blame no one
else for your situation and learn.
"Success is never permanent. Failure is never fatal. The only thing that really counts
is to never, never, never give up." Winston Churchill.
Have you ever done something you wanted to go back in time and change? Tough
luck, you can't. But you learn the lesson. The last word on this falls to Horace, "failure has the effect of eliciting talents, which, in prosperous circumstances, would have
lain dormant." You are where you are today, because of your choices, your mistakes,
your failures. What new failures await you? Each one offered you the promise of a
lesson. Cherish them. They drive your success.
*** End ***
Shameful plug
If you want to discuss the lessons you're missing from your failures or what your current behaviours might be costing you in your life or business call Marcus Cauchi on 0845 458 1237 or 07876 616983.
For details on the Sandler Sales Institute sales and sales management training programmes I offer or for permission to reproduce this article please eMail MCauchi@SALTeurope.com.. If you'd like a PDF version to distribute please email me for a copy. Thanks for getting in touch.
© Marcus Cauchi and Sandler Systems Inc 2006
Sales Training London Fail Your Way to Success in Small Business - To learn more about this author, visit Marcus Cauchi's Website.
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What is the Anatomy of Failure?
Shock is often the first reaction I have when I fail, even if I saw it coming. It hurts, I
smart then the disbelief sets in and I start to question, "Why me?", "Why now?" and
then resentment starts to take hold. "It's not fair", "It shouldn't have happened to me",
"I worked so hard", "I really needed that to work". Hopefully I begin to accept it as a
reality, it's happened, it's history and there's nothing I can do about that. But I can do
something about it in the future.
I can choose to act, I can decide and I can take preventative or remedial action. I can
set better goals, I can focus on the things I want instead of focusing on the things I
don't want.
There is a theory to which I subscribe around the Law of Attraction. Focus on
anything and sure enough that tends to come to you. Focus on your "failure" and the
impact that is having on you and sure enough, you fail and fail and fail again. Focus
on how stupid you were and you'll relive that stupidity time and again. Focus on your
debts and you get deeper in debt. Focus on not being able to close sales and you will
continue letting qualified prospects who have problems that you can fix, and both the
will and the ability to make a decision and pay you to help them fix it, within a defined
timetable, slip through your fingers.
This paper is intended to help you recognise these symptoms, uncover the secrets of
how you can make success come to you through your failures and take meaningful,
decisive action towards your success.
Why is Failure Part of the Human Condition?
Experience can be defined as the bringing together of your mistakes, bad choices,
terrible decisions and stupid actions as lessons learned and applied. Failure is
inevitable, it is simply part of the human condition. Accept it and realise that nothing
perfect can be created until it already exists. You have to make mistakes to learn
your lessons. Don't let that allow you to waste scarce time getting ready to get ready.
Learning lessons from your failure is a sign of growth. Failure is a sign of strength not weakness. Failure helps you to become stronger, wiser, leaner, more effective but
only if you learn and apply your lessons. Failure in small business comes in all
shapes and sizes. I failed in the selection of my business partner and in how I
managed that relationship. I failed in setting my business up on a strong financial
footing and have fought tooth and nail to survive month after month, day after day as
a result. I failed to follow my own lessons and became complacent in my success so
when contracts were cancelled without notice I had no fall back position. I failed to
listen to my instincts on so many things, most notably a key network contact whose
activities have left me at fault in my judgement but I'm now 3 years back from where I
was as a result.
Nothing I did happened by accident. As I write this I'm heavily overweight and unfit.
Never in my life have I accidentally eaten anything! I am responsible for my condition
and it is up to me, no one else, to recognise that and do something about this. I could
dwell on my "slow metabolism" (also my own fault for acting like a sloth!), my busy
lifestyle (my choice), my constant tiredness (my choice to sleep only a few hours,
work long hours, struggle, devote hundreds of hours a year to learn and improve,
satisfy the needs of my clients, help my network), my lack of family time (again my choice to focus on generating the income we need to put my 3 daughters through a
good education and live in a rural setting).
I made these choices, I failed many times along the way, I still fail and I will in the
future on my road to success.
What is True Failure?
Repetition of the same mistakes time and again is really failing. It's a monumental
mistake to keep doing the same thing time and again and expect a different result. I
think that not trusting your gut, your instincts is a sure fire way to achieve failure.
Acceptance of the status quo is a major form of failure too. Nothing great is achieved
by settling for the "way things have always been done". The words "that's the way
things are done around here" without questioning that "truth" and the underlying
beliefs behind it simply invite trouble. Maybe not today, but your competition is sitting
on there arses, twiddling their thumbs aren't they. They accept that change is
impossible too don't they?
Read Felix Dennis's book "How to Get Rich" if you want to learn about the
importance of failure, risk taking and trusting your gut. Also recognise that to get rich,
you're going to have to do some things you won't like doing, you're going to have to
make some tough choices and you're going to have to sacrifice a lot to get there.
You'll also have to give a damn about what other's think about you. You have to get
tough, get focused and get motivated to do whatever is necessary to succeed in your
small business, especially if you want to make it a big business.
Success in business does not equate to happiness in life. It may come, it may not,
but you're going to have to a lot of things that won't make you happy in the shortterm.
Long hours, tough negotiation, saying "no" to things that get in your way, firing
people, suppliers, partners who are holding you back or damaging your progress are
the realities of success.
Failure, true failure is not learning the lessons, especially the toughest lessons that
mean you aren't always lovable. "The fear of failure is understandable, but
misguided. If you give a damn what the neighbours think, you'll never be rich", says
Dennis.
Why is Failure Good in Business?
Learning is the greatest reward of failure. To learn you have to recognise the causes
of your failures. Are they your fault, are they a result of your timing, your
circumstances, the economy, your pricing, your communication style, your approach
to selling, to marketing, your behaviour, your attitudes, your hiring decisions, your
neediness in front of customers, your inability to say no, your poor cash-flow
management, your poor qualification of opportunities or the amount of free consulting
you give with no return for your efforts? This list is just the tip of the iceberg when it
comes to finding the causes of your failures. Make your own, record what happens,
document how and when you were rejected, identify what possible reasons there
may have been for that rejection. Put yourself in your client or prospect's shoes and
ask "If I were them and someone had done, said or reacted in that way to me,
knowing what I know about them, would I have kicked me into touch too?"
Instinct is one of your most powerful tools to achieve success. Never discount your
gut. If your guts are telling you something is wrong, listen carefully to what you're
hearing and uncover why you feel that way. But above all, seek to gain something
from all of your failures.
In a selling context failure is not, not getting a deal, it's not getting a lesson, its not
getting a referral. You can't hope to sell to everyone, not everyone will like you, not
everyone needs what you have to offer and not everyone is willing to receive your
help. Accept that. But don't accept that there is nothing to be gained from your
failures.
Scar tissue and plenty of it is what separates the men from the boys. Felix Dennis
started out small and grew to become one of the richest men in the UK. He built his
empire by throwing money, time and resources at risky ventures. Today he still
encourages his managers to spend money and make mistakes. "If the worst happens
and they spend a few million and only get half of it back, it's not the end of the world
- at least they'll have learned a few lessons".
Who do you know who's achieved anything big or meaningful without lots of scar
tissue, sleepless nights and pressure? If your back is against the wall that is when
you can really prove your mettle. I make mistake after mistake, generally now they're
different mistakes to those I've made previously (I am learning, slowly but I'm
learning), but I welcome them as opportunities to learn.
Learn from the scar tissue of others too. Speak to people like you who face the same
problems you face, people who've overcome them, people who are stuck in a rut (a
rut is a coffin with both ends kicked out!) and see what they're doing to self harm,
replicate their bad luck and learn how not to do that in your business.
How Can You Avoid Repeated Failure?
Record your mistakes. Have a plentiful supply of 3x5 inch index cards, and write
down what happens. On the reverse write down what you could have done or said
differently. Write down the questions you could have asked back to a customer who
had an objection to get better information, to understand their concern better, to get
them to handle their own objection for themselves.
Journal, every day. Write down your goals for the day relating to your behaviours and
your attitudes. Write down what you did and record where you were successful and
what lessons you learned form your failures. Make yourself accountable to yourself
and to others. Take on a mentor or a coach, be that in a formal arrangement or form
a "think tank" or support group. In small business you have to do everything until you
can afford to hire. When you hire, can you delegate or do you feel the need to keep a
firm grip on everything? Then question your purpose for hiring or your hiring
decisions. A journal is one of the most powerful ways you have to keep on track and
prevents you from hiding from yourself, from lying to yourself and from having no
point of reference to fall back on when you see the early signs of failure looming.
Review your journal regularly to see where change began to happen in your
business, to learn and reinforce your hard earned lessons. Review your position
regularly to see where you've come from and where you're headed. Is who you're
becoming the person, entrepreneur or leader the one you want to become? Does
your behaviour serve you or hurt you? Reviewing your journal regularly helps you to
move towards your success.
Journal the lessons you learned. Put a value on each lesson. I left £28 million behind
in lost sales over 17 years by not controlling the sale from the off. That equates to
£8.4 million in lost commissions. My lesson on selecting partners has cost me over
£260,000 so far and counting. My lesson about keeping the pipeline filled cost me
over £1.9 million. My lesson about ruthless qualification cost me about 300 hours a
year for 17 years and £12 million. How much do your lessons cost you?
Why Should You Fail Big and Often?
Apathy is the death knell of success in business. In you, in your employees, in your
partners, the biggest single reason customers and personnel leave you is they don't
feel you love them any more i.e. perceived indifference. 10 years in recruitment
taught me the biggest reason salespeople left their jobs was because they didn't feel
valued at their current company. How many customers have you lost because you
didn't appear to care for them? How many of you even know why you lose
customers? Do you ever ask?
Failing in this way can be immensely rewarding. Ask why you failed, always ask why.
Get past symptom and identify the cause. You can only fix things when you know
their cause, putting sticking plaster on a cancer won't fix anything long term.
Being poor is a condition, being broke is a state of mind. You may not be earning
what you want now, but risk often and risk big and you will hit pay dirt. It comes back
to the Law of Attraction. THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT ALL THE TIME and by
strange coincidence you start to attract the people and circumstances to help you
succeed. Don't just "try it", do it. Do it now. Write down what you want even if you risk
failing, ridicule, rejection, not being liked.
Commit to doing whatever is necessary to achieve your desired result, success.
What is Sacrifice?
Value is the starting point of understanding sacrifice. If you lose your life trying to
save your own child is that a sacrifice? If you lose your life saving a stranger who is
drowning is that a sacrifice? You probably place a higher value on the life of your
child than you do on your own, so that isn't a sacrifice, where as you probably place
a higher value on your life than that of a total stranger, so that is a sacrifice; does that
make sense?
Sacrifice is giving something of a higher value for something of a lesser value. If you
decide to risk something of a lower value for something of a greater value in your
business that makes good sense to me. Risk your current level of comfort for growth,
greater market share, bigger customers and you have my support. If you have
customers who are a pain in the arse, who make your life hell, who cost you too
much and you replace them with customers who are decisive, pay for what they ask
and don't expect more than they have agreed, who pay on time, who pay well, is that
a sacrifice? I don't think so. But it is a risk. Leaving behind safe income (even if it is
unprofitable you feel good that you're earning something) is a scary proposition
precisely because it's a risk …. but it isn't a sacrifice.
Why Risk?
Danger is always present whenever you risk. You could lose something, or
everything. It's interesting that in the States many venture capitalists won't invest in
any entrepreneur (you notice I don't say their business but I point to the individual)
unless they've been bankrupted at least 3 times. These are people who have a lot of
money and generally don't squander it unless they think they can get a return. So
why do they invest in repeated failures?
Pressure in business is immense. It is a dog eat dog world and there are no prizes
for trying, for having the better idea but coming second, the bank doesn't give you
extra credit for being original. Winning is what matters most. That's predicated by
knowing how to lose …. and learn from it.
You're in business for many reasons but unless making a profit is the one that you
have at the forefront of your mind, you won't be in business for long. But a life without
risk is a life without growth.
Direction is important in your risk strategy. Know where you're headed (it comes back
to those pesky goals again) and know where you are in relation to where you want to
be. Focus on what you want, focus on what you want.
Why Being an "At-Leaster" is the Greatest Form of Failure?
Settle for your lot in life and you've all you deserve. This isn't a popular view but to
me this is a cardinal sin against God and Man. "At least I didn't get creamed", "at
least I didn't lose everything", "at least I made my mortgage payment this month" -
these are the words of an at-leaster. The worst kind of businessperson. Not an
entrepreneur. If all you want is a lifestyle business then you're welcome to it, but
you're probably OK that taxes are going up all the time, that there's more red tape,
that the Chinese can manufacture cheaper than us, that the Indians can undercut us
on price for outsourced services.
Do you think for a moment that your Chinese or Indian counterpart is saying "I need
more balance in my life" or is he saying "Thank you Volkswagon employees for
engineering the EU working time directive, so I can be even more competitive and
take even more market share from my European rivals"? Did you know that there is a
new Chinese $dollar millionaire made every 28 seconds? Feeling good about your
business now?
Give up giving up. Never, never, never settle, never stop striving and never settle for
settling for the status quo - unless you don't mind being turned into minced meat. If
your competition creeps up on you and you've settled you have only yourself to
blame and no one should offer you a shred of sympathy. The world is tough. On a
social level your wife or husband may be preyed on by a randy suitor (competitor). At
work your job is only safe as long as you make it so and even that is up to the whim
of others. In business as in life the ability to keep striving through the continuous
failures separates those who crash on the rocks below and those who eventually
triumph.
Why You're A Product of Your Failures and Decisions
Acceptance that failure is an essential part of the human condition is a fine lesson in
itself. The realisation that all those blunders, those knock-backs, rejections, kicks in
the teeth and every other part of your anatomy were leading you to this point in your
life. Every choice you ever made, every decision (or indecision) led you to this
moment. You made those choices.
Defeat is a condition; resignation is a state of mind. Victory is far from assured even if
you learn from your mistakes. Your path through failure is a journey not an event and
is never certain in either its outcome or path. But if you're resigned to being a victim
it's certain you will always be a failure. Make the effort; take the risks; blame no one
else for your situation and learn.
"Success is never permanent. Failure is never fatal. The only thing that really counts
is to never, never, never give up." Winston Churchill.
Have you ever done something you wanted to go back in time and change? Tough
luck, you can't. But you learn the lesson. The last word on this falls to Horace, "failure has the effect of eliciting talents, which, in prosperous circumstances, would have
lain dormant." You are where you are today, because of your choices, your mistakes,
your failures. What new failures await you? Each one offered you the promise of a
lesson. Cherish them. They drive your success.
*** End ***
Shameful plug
If you want to discuss the lessons you're missing from your failures or what your current behaviours might be costing you in your life or business call Marcus Cauchi on 0845 458 1237 or 07876 616983.
For details on the Sandler Sales Institute sales and sales management training programmes I offer or for permission to reproduce this article please eMail MCauchi@SALTeurope.com.. If you'd like a PDF version to distribute please email me for a copy. Thanks for getting in touch.
© Marcus Cauchi and Sandler Systems Inc 2006
Sales Training London Fail Your Way to Success in Small Business - To learn more about this author, visit Marcus Cauchi's Website.
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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