April 14, 2009
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
You Must Learn to Fail in Sales
Gary Gibboney
Several years ago I met a gentleman who had been in banking his entire career. Unfortunately, he became a casualty when his bank was purchased by a larger bank and his position was eliminated. While he received a handsome retirement package he was in no position to retire. Having a strong financial background he decided to become a financial advisor for one of the major brokerage firms. What he did not realize was that he had just accepted a 100% commissioned based sales position with no customers.
It did not take long for the euphoria of a new career, new office, and new business card to wear off and the reality of the situation to set in. The phone was not ringing and he was not making any money. To make it worse he was on his own and there was no help in sight. As the desperation set in so did the pressure to make a sale. But instead of picking up the phone to make some cold calls he spent countless hours creating a script for what he would say when he was ready to make calls. When he thought it was perfect and time to test it he made a few calls with no luck. It must be the script he thought so he went back to the drawing board. He tried again with no luck and started to feel like he had made a huge mistake getting into sales.
He called me and asked me what he should do. We met and discussed the situation at length and it quickly became apparent to me that he viewed every attempt as a personal failure and as a result had stopped making calls. In attempt to hide his fear of “no” he spent hours on the internet, taking long lunches, and working on his script to avoid the pain of cold calling. He failed to understand that failure, or “no” is part of sales and that not everyone is a prospect.
I thought I could help so I gave him a simple challenge. Since he was so effective getting “no” on the phone I challenged him to get 20 no’s in two hours, and bet him lunch he couldn’t do it. He gladly accepted and went to the phone. I lost the bet and he got a free lunch. However, he also made his first two appointments.
Three things happened to my friend as a result of this challenge. He overcame his fear of cold calling, he started booking 2-3 appointments every day, and he closed his first sale two weeks later. His business is growing every month now that he has learned to turn “failure” into his strength.
Click Here to Sign-Up for our FREE Newsletter.
Trustpointe, Inc.
6666 East 75th Street, Suite 150
Indianapolis, IN 46250
Copyright ©2009 Trustpointe, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
