Success Advice

3 Lessons You Will Learn From a Sales Role That Will Make You Successful in Life

Published

5 years ago

Oct 27, 2018

Jon Lee

Image Credit: Unsplash

What one thing do Mark Cuban, Howard Schultz, and Warren Buffet all have in common? I’ll give you a hint, it’s not being billionaires or CEOs. Besides being 3 of the most successful (and richest) men of all time, these 3 men all started their careers in sales.

In fact, more billionaires started in sales than in any other profession. From Samuel Palmisano at IBM to Shark Tank’s Robert Herjavec, According to a study done by recruitment agency Aaron Wallis, of the 53 billionaires who did not inherit their wealth, 10 of them or around 20% started in sales. As sales move more and more online and Amazon eats everything, salesmen are being replaced more and more by deal closing computers.

Take a second to think about the last time you went to a store and dealt with a salesperson? My guess is it’s been awhile. And it looks more and more likely that most of the next generation will not get the chance to do real face-to-face “Look em in the eye” sales.

While the sales process is changing and moving online, I think it’s important to continue to pass on some of the lessons that one would learn in face to face sales. These are lessons that will ultimately make you successful in life whether you decide to build the next Facebook or just run your own landscaping business.

Here are 3 Lessons From Sales That Will Make You A Success in Life:

1. Grit

One of the harsh truths about life is that rejection happens. It happens in business, it happens in dating and it happens socially.

Grit, as popularized by the book of the same title by Penn professor Angela Duckworth, is courage and resolve of character. Until rather recently many believed that grit was a trait you either had or didn’t have, but Duckworth’s book showed how that sort of tenacity can be actively cultivated.

I can almost guarantee that no successful salesman has ever read Grit. They don’t need to because sales forces you to develop tough skin and persistence. Salespeople face rejection about 90% of the time. Even the best “closers” in the world still only make a sale about a third of the time. That means they fail 66% of the time. Another way to say it is that sales forces you to become gritty.

“Learn to keep going even when things are difficult, even when we have our doubts. At various points, in big ways and small, we get knocked down. If we stay down, grit loses. If we get up, grit prevails.” – Angela Duckworth

2. Listening

When most people think of a salesman, they conjure an image of a fast-talking smooth schmoozer. But that image is only one type of salesman and often an ineffective one at that. The best salesmen in the world are amazing listeners. But listening doesn’t just make you an incredible salesman, there is quite a bit of evidence to suggest it also makes you a more effective leader as well.

Listening makes people feel cared about and valuable. It also helps you focus in on what they REALLY want and how you can help them get it. Whether you want to solve conflicts with your significant other or rise up the corporate ladder, listening will get you there faster than talking.

3. Being Internally Motivated

Another common misconception about successful salesmen is that they are motivated by things like bonuses, competition, and money. While there are some sales professionals who need a contest or $100 bonus at the end of the day to get themselves jacked up, the best salesmen (and women) I ever worked with were internally motivated.

As I mentioned earlier, rejection happens to salespeople a lot. Those that are externally motivated are going to do great when things are going well. But when they are in the midst of no sales after making 100 calls, they would have trouble finding the motivation to pick up the phone. On the other hand, the best salespeople I worked with were always motivated because they found motivation not in the success of a sales call but internally.

“I think true success is intrinsic… It’s love. It’s kindness. It’s community.” – Tom Shadyac

They found ways to be motivated to take action even when they didn’t feel like it. Whether they’re making 100 calls in a day or working on your social media marketing, they have to find it within themselves to keep on pushing forward.

A sales career has laid the foundation for success for countless men and women across the globe. These days fewer and fewer things are sold in person, we’re pretty much down to cars and houses and even those sales processes have changed entirely due to the internet.

It’s not hard to imagine a future without salespeople, but that doesn’t mean that everyone can’t benefit from the 3 timeless success lessons presented here today.

Which one of these 3 lessons resonated with you most? Let us know below!

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Jon Lee

Jon Lee is a Full Stack Marketer, who specializes in helping small businesses grow to 7 figures. He also blogs about career development and hosts the A Player Podcast where he interviews “A Players” from various fields as diverse as cage fighting and neurobiology find out more at www.Aplayerpodcast.com.

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How to Break the Cycles of Mediocrity and Manifest Your Greatness

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity

Published

3 weeks ago

Nov 16, 2023

Jamelle Sanders

Image Credit: Midjourney

In just a few weeks, we will be wrapping up 2023. Can you believe it? This year has been absolutely incredible for me.

I have seen amazing doors opened, new relationships formed and I am seeing dreams realized in my life. While this seems like the hallmarks of a great year, this has also been the most challenging year of my life. With all of the change happening in my life, I have been forced out of my comfort zone and challenged to grow in every area of my life.

I can truly say that I have made the most of my moments this year and I have used everything as a catalyst for maximizing my greatest potential.

As a revolutionary leader, I have the pleasure of consulting and advising leaders around the world to fulfill purpose, realize their greatest potential and make an impact.

I want to share some insights with you that will help you to break cycles of mediocrity and manifest your greatness.

Everything legal must come through the matrix

I am sure that some of you are wondering why I am using the term matrix. However, what you have to understand is that I am trying to make a highly complex spiritual principle practical to understand.

Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, every life has an origin and I believe that origin is divine and begins with eternity. You are birthed from eternity and into time to fulfill a unique purpose and assignment in your lifetime and generation.

The matrix is simply the portal or vehicle that brings something out of the invisible realm and into tangible form. The problem with much of the teaching today is that it excludes the matrix. We are told to believe that success is instantaneous and overnight.

Nobody talks about how a dream progresses through stages beginning with visualization and ultimately culminating in manifestation. Without a matrix or portal then everything that you attempt to birth and build will be illegal.

The matrix not only makes you legal but it gives you the authority and power to function as the greatest expression of who you were created to be.

Every matrix has an incubation process

While many people admire and respect me today, I remember a time when nobody knew who I was or the significance of my message. How did I get to where I am today? I got here through an incubation process.

In other words, everything that has been destined for your life is incubating and awaiting a set time of manifestation. The problem is that most people live their entire lives idle and never initiate the incubation process.

What do I meany by that? Most people are living reckless and very few people are living intentionally. I am amazed at the number of people I have conversations with that have no vision, goals or strategies for their lives. They show great promise and they have undeniable potential.

However, without development they will die with their dreams still in them.

Everything that has been destined for your life must be incubated and converted to become realities born to time.

“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint and begin to build.” – Robert Collier

You must give expression to that which is not yet born to time

When you think about a matrix or a prophetic incubation process, you have to understand that potential is often unrealized and untapped. In other words, your potential is in raw form and your potential cannot serve you as long as it is untapped.

The thing that makes me valuable is that I have the ability to convert potential into power. I have done it in my own life and I have empowered leaders around the world to do the same. How do you convert potential into power?

First, it is important to note that you have to perceive potential. If you cannot perceive your potential then you can never cultivate your potential. In addition, you must take the time to cultivate your potential. We often get excited about our capabilities; however, we never expand our capacity in order to realize our greatest potential.

In other words, the strength of your potential is only discovered through your willingness to stretch. The more we are challenged the more we are empowered to expand our capacity for greatness. Most of all, you must begin to express your potential. The expression of potential is different for every person.

For example, the expression of my potential is best demonstrated through the thoughts, ideas, products, services, books, etc.

For another person the expression of potential may look like a screenplay, artwork, sports, scientific discoveries, medical breakthroughs, etc.

Regardless of the form of expression, I know that you will live empty and unfulfilled until you make the decision to express your potential. The expression of your potential gives voice to your dreams, life to your vision, significance to your moments and activates your true power.

You must manifest your greatness

As a revolutionary thinker and leader, my work has impacted people around the world. I am grateful that my life is a source of empowerment to so many people. However, before anyone could ever benefit from my life, I had to make a non-negotiable decision to become who I was born to be.

I wish I could tell you that this journey is easy and that you will get there overnight. However, in a world that celebrates us for doing we are often criticized for being. As a result, I wasted a lot of time trying to be who other people wanted me to be instead of being who I was born to be.

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity. It is through our bravery to be vulnerable that we ultimately manifest our greatness. We do not bless the world by being a duplicate. We bless the world when we honor our difference. When you honor your difference you honor your potential.

Ultimately, your difference is how you manifest your greatness.

When you present anything but your authentic self to the world, you are playing small and you are robbing the world of your significance. Manifesting your greatness requires you to master your gifts.