Are you willing to pay the price to achieve your dream of becoming the #1 salesperson in your company?
Over the last few weeks, we have discussed the importance of limiting the influence of naysayers—those disheartening dream crushers. We have also seen the importance of writing your goals down on paper, as data proves the fact that capturing your goals on paper makes you more likely to achieve those goals.
The next part of this equation for success is found in asking ourselves this question: “What is it going to cost us to get to our dream?”
The motivation to become the top salesperson in your company is personal, and so are the sacrifices we are willing to make for our success. It’s one thing to strive for President’s Club, but to become the #1 rep in the company? That is going to require some sacrifice. I love hearing about the ways our sales reps have sacrificed to reach their personal goals. Don’t get me wrong—I am definitely not recommending that you sacrifice everything in order to vault to the top of the company. For example, if you can’t walk to the stage and accept a sales award with your integrity and ability to share your success with loved ones intact, then, in my opinion, the sacrifices were not worth the end result!
I would like to encourage you to get a piece of paper, draw a line down the middle, and make two lists—one on each side of the dividing line. On one side, write down all the things you are willing to do to reach your goal. On the other side, write down all the things that you are not willing to sacrifice. You have essentially captured what you are willing to do and what you are not willing to do—and these lists are absolutely crucial to your future success.
Now that you have completed your list, I want to focus on the things that you are willing to sacrifice for your goal—the price you are willing to pay. We all agree that dreams of becoming the #1 salesperson are fun, exhilarating, and exciting. Picture yourself walking to the stage and collecting your award while listening to a thunderous ovation. And, if you work for ConMed, don’t forget about getting your name inscribed on the huge plaque in our training room, along with a vacation for two to an exotic location! Fantastic dreams, don’t you think?
But here is the reality of life: the visualization of our dreams is free, but the path to achieve them isn’t.
When we realize that we need to accomplish something, the hardest part is transitioning from our dreams to our reality, because, in real life, no goal is achieved without paying some sort of price for it. Why is this the most challenging part? Simply put, as soon as we set our dreams into motion, we immediately begin to encounter obstacles and challenges.
Have you ever talked with a top salesperson who told you that his or her rise to the top was easy? I have yet to meet this person—all successful salespeople have made tremendous sacrifices to get where they are today.
I encourage you to take the piece of paper from the exercise above and make several copies of it—put a copy on your mirror in your bathroom, in your calendar, on the dashboard of your car, as a screen saver on your laptop, and on your arm as a tattoo (not really, but you get the point!). We all need constant reminders regarding our goals and what we can do and are willing to do in order to achieve them.
Stay tuned for next week’s final principle that will help establish you on your way to becoming the #1 salesperson in your company!
