How Bad do you Want it?
Success. That’s what we’re talking about here. How bad do you want success?
Eric Thomas (author, speaker, educator, pastor) gets credit for asking this question in the motivational talks he gives around the country. And it is one doozie of a question.
On the surface it may seem like a silly question. Who in the world would ever admit that they don’t want success? On the surface. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone that says they don’t want it. We surround ourselves with salespeople, & that’s one cast of characters that definitely says they want success. They want it. They need it. They deserve it. They’ve earned it. On the surface. Funny thing is, where it really counts (under the surface) what they say often flies in the complete opposite direction of what they do.
We’ve never met a salesperson that doesn’t say they work hard, really hard. A common one is, “I work my ass off for this company!” Really? Then we watch what time they schedule their first appointment, what they do with their day, how much time they spend at lunch, what time they schedule their last appointment. What they say isn’t even close to what they do.
How many salespeople do you know that want to make more money? That’s easy, all of them! Every salesperson we’ve ever dealt with says they want to make more money than last year. A lot more. In fact, most can’t stop bitching about their income every time you speak to them. Then, we watch how much time they spend at current (familiar) customers that haven’t bought anything new in years. It’s easy & convenient to take “Carl” out to lunch (even though Carl can’t make a decision to save his life … but he’ll talk to us!). They wouldn’t prospect for new business if their life depended on it. Since earning more money depends on it you might deduct that what they say isn’t even close to what they do.
One of our favorites is the salesperson that says they need to become better at time-management. Interesting, upon deeper inspection, many of these people do the same thing every day, refusing to utilize technology to maximize efficiencies, continuing to do research, quotes & expense reports & other non-paying activities during “pay time” hours that could be spent with prospects & customers. When you investigate it, what they say is the exact opposite of what they do.
Every company has this salesperson… the salesperson that makes an excuse for everything that doesn’t go his way. It’s always the customer’s fault. It’s always “the competition cut their price”. It’s always production’s fault. It’s always a “slow time for the customer”. It’s always “our prices are too high”. It’s always “the economy.” Notice how this guy never, ever, points the finger between his own two eyes? That would mean he’d have to hold himself accountable & be responsible for once. Nope, too hard. Here’s a guy that says he wants to be successful but what he does shows something else. It’s like watching two different movies!
So, ask yourself . . . How bad do you want success? What will you do to get it? The two need to match up. Look at every successful person you know. Someone that has worked hard for their success. Earned lots of money. Has cool things. Goes to neat places. The key phrase is “worked hard for their success”. We’re not talking about your friends that were born with money. Some people have a silver spoon in their mouth. If you weren’t, how bad do you want it?
Start doing what it takes to get it.
