Everyone knows the saying “nobody is perfect,” and it’s
true, but most people don’t like to accept that the root
of that statement means that we will sometimes fail.
Failure is a natural part of life and any sales
experience. It doesn’t have to define you or hold you
back, it’s a learning opportunity that leads to growth
and eventual success. David Mattson says in his book,
The Sandler Rules: 49.Timeless Selling Principles and
How to Apply Them, that Core Concept #1 is You Have
to Learn to Fail to Win. This is applicable in life and in
sales.
In life, Mattson discusses that there is the real-you and
the role-you. The Real-you is who you are as a person:
your identity, self-worth, etc. The Role-you is your
performance in a role, a function you deliver in a
relational context. The better you are at separating the
real you from the role you, the more successful and
happy you will be. BUT you need to be confident in the
real -you to be confident and successful in the role.
you.
People are attracted to confidence and passion. Even
if they are not passionate about what you are, if you
are confident in yourself and in your passion, people
are drawn to you and want to know more. It’s not
about thinking more highly of yourself than others,
but instead not letting your flaws and mistakes
prevent you from flourishing. It’s the same in sales,
many people avoid sales because they fear failure and
rejection. But fearing failure holds you back from
success. If you can feel confident in your real-you, the
role-you will thrive. And then you stumble in sales or
in life, being able to separate your career from your
identity will allow you to grow and learn from the
mistake instead of planting a fear of more failure/
rejection.
Professor Sweet says that “Failure is just good
information to help you next time.” This quote applies
to both life and sales. It’s good to be able to connect
your personal experience to sales, as long as you can
keep them separate. Recognize that the real-you and
the role-you are different but they are both worthy of
growth and success.
BoweryJE22
I think this is certainly crucial to sales as far as gaining experience, growing, and learning from our mistakes. Also, as you pointed out, this is not just a principle that is important in sales but also all of life. Learning to have the confidence to fail, and to learn from that failure is an extremely valuable skill that applies to everyone. Great post!
Libby,
The quote that you put in saying, “The better you are at separating the real you from the role you, the more successful and happy you will be…” is so true. Having the confidence to fail is very important for entrepreneurship so that you understand that the risks you have to take will not always work out, but without it you won’t make progress.
This is one of the most universally applicable concepts there is! Confidence and the ability to distinguish between your “real” and “role” you is the key to being an effective salesperson, an inspiring figure, or just a happier person.
This is a great point because I think there are many times where we can dwell on failure and that can dissuade us from growing. Rather in our book, Mattson describes failure as being something that is important and leads us to a better position.
Confidence is key! If building a sales relationship is about trust then the customer should feel confident in you. This is a super interesting read, very well done!
Libby,
Wow! What a great post. I really enjoyed how you walked through this topic but casted a new light on the whole thing. It is quite interesting to go back and look at how confidence can greatly affect the selling experience. I really need to work on my confidence. One of the people that I look up to each day, and live vicariously through their confidence is the one and only Kim Kardasian. It is truly aweinspiring. **Chef kiss**
Confidence is important in building trust be it true or a façade. To sell you need to connect with customers and convince them your certain of whatever information your giving them and its reliability. You need confidence to convince.
You’re definitely right about people being attracted to passion. It’s important to find a good balance between being passionate about your sale and being over passionate. You’re also right about the importance of not taking sales failures personally. That’s crucial!
Great post, Libby! If you show that you care about something with confidence, it inspires passion and confidence in your potential buyer!