Core Concept 1 : You have to learn to fail to win.
Here’s what we talked about in class…
- Failure is a natural part of any sales experience
- Many people avoid sales situations because they fear failure and rejection
- Dealing with rejection intellectually is different than dealing with it emotionally
- Every sales call/experience is a learning opportunity
Aside from the mindset of Leslie Knope, the way she responds to failure in this situation is in a positive way in that she is able to cope with the circumstance. Even though she truly believes her own distortion of reality, what we can gleam from it is that light of optimism in a bad situation. For instance, a customer is rude and doesn’t want to hear your pitch. They’re screaming at you. OK. By listening through their irritation, you have an opportunity to show respect and surprise them with your understanding behavior. Show them kindness, and leave them with a spoiled taste of their own behavior. Perhaps they will feel sorry, turn around, and come back. If not, at least you can check them off your list.
Some people have a hard time dealing with rejection. If this is you, it’s OK but it’s something you’ll want to learn not only in sales but in life in general. It’s not an easy task but once you understand how to cope, like Leslie, she uses it to her advantage. She saw beyond why these people were screaming at her. She understood it to mean that these people felt strongly and cared enough to bring their issues to her attention. And what did she do? She worked even harder to fix it. We all admire Leslie Knope for the love she has for the work she does.
BoweryJE22
you never know what the sales situation will be until you are in it, and some of them are exactly like that. Being sure that you do not tread on their feet or make them even more aggravated is a good thing to do. If you act respectfully, they will notice and wonder why a salesman did not take advantage of you in that situation. Give them something to admire, not something to hate
Failure is in fact a necessary part of sales. As we discussed in class, many people in our generation are not accustomed to rejection, and thus find sales a difficult field. iIt is important for a good salesperson to be able to deal with, and accept rejection as a pert of the job. There may even be a lot that can be learned from it.
I love the statement that learning to fail intellectually is different than emotionally. Too often emotions can interfere and get in the way of one’s main goal, to sell and sell effectively. Failing is just one step closer to success and learning how to be ok with this statement is half the battle.
I like how you used Leslie Knope to further solidify Core Concept #1. This is spot-on.
I love how straightforward and understandable this post it. It is so true that difficult situations can present us with opportunities to show an aspect of patience, commitment, or creativity that we would not have been able to show if everything went perfectly. Not only does failure present us with future opportunity (to apply what we learned from it) but also current opportunity (to manage it in ways that make us stand out).
A very good reminder and lesson for us all… with Parks and Rec to boot! Fantastic