You never fail

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What if I fail?

You never fail

I don't like the word 'failure'. My interpretation of sales does not include failure. My belief is that you never fail - you learn from your experiences. While some see a lost sale as failure, I see it as a way to learn something - what did I do or not do that made the difference there? The only place where it matters if you make a mistake is in school. In the real world, if you have never 'failed' you have never tried.

   

Comments

1/17/2008 1:20:45 AM
Janice Kaye said:

This is probably the most important sales tip there is. I went to a school for over achievers and ever since then I have had a terrible fear of failure. I would avoid subjects that I found difficult even though I enjoyed them, and gravitated towards the subjects that I was naturally good at, so I could bask in my success when I did well in them. I carried this through into my working life - never stepping out of my comfort zone to apply for or to do the really difficult jobs, preferring to be in a job where people thought I was excellent at what I did.

All that changed back in 2003 when I took what was supposed to be a temporary job as a Sales and Export Manager, and my boss discovered that my fear of failure was holding me back. He was the first person in my life to give me permission to fail. In fact, as you write, he did not define not getting the sale as failure. He reminded me that you don't make a sale with each sales call, but you can build on the relationship, and next time it will be that much easier to make the sale, or alternatively they will call you when you need something. Gradually, I lost my fear of failure, and understand that without failure in life you can't get to real success. I now give myself permission to take risks. To try new things - if they work, then to take them on board and if they do not bring about the desired results then to drop them. I have since gone on to open my own business and am sure that I will never go back to salaried work again - all because of one person who taught me that failure is OK.




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