Successful Salespeople & Will Smith

Reader’s Digest ran a feature story on Will Smith, star of  the hit movie, The Persuit of Happiness.  Will’s character is not the only one in this story obsessed with winning.  It turns out that Will is also obsessed with winning, being the best and being the most successful. He believes that he can be the best at anything he chooses to undertake.  He not only shares this trait with the likes of Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump and other well known celebrities, but with some of the most successful salespeople as well.  I posted an article on this subject in October.

I bring this subject up again today because it’s just so obvious to me that an obsession with being the best is what causes the successful people to continue to improve themselves, overcome their weaknesses, not give in to their fears, and do the things they dislike.  When the obsession with winning is strong enough, salespeople will find ways to succeed because failure is not an option.  It’s not luck, or working harder than the next guy, or being smarter than everyone else, or being in the right place at the right time.  It is always – with an emphasis on consistency and discipline – the commitment to do whatever it takes.

How many of your salespeople have this obsession with winning?  Probably fewer than 5%.  And that’s OK as long as the rest of your salespeople are over achievers.  I posted an article last week on Over Achieving.  If salespeople who are obsessed with winning are your A’s and salespeople who over achieve are your B’s and salespeople who consistently achieve are your C’s, then you’ll blow the doors off of any and all of your competitors.  On the other hand, if you allow mediocrity to slip in it will undermine everything.

You can’t build a superior sales force by having some extraordinary people.  They must all be extraordinary.

© Copyright 2007 Objective Management Group, Inc.