No one cares about your success as much as you do

The best didn’t get to the top by being conformists.

Think about it for a second. What do all top sales performers have in common?

They are rule breakers.

That stems from their skepticism about the sales status quo and standardized one-size fits all sales methodologies.

The best sales people I’ve ever worked with are profound skeptics.

They never unquestioningly accept the first answer a buyer gives to their questions. They probe. They push back.

They always dig deeper to understand the motivation and the “why” in every sales situation. Even at the risk of being a pain.

Similarly, the best sales people I’ve ever worked with never unquestioningly accept advice from bosses or “experts.” They probe. They push back.

They always dig deeper to understand the “why” in every sales situation. Even at the risk of being a pain.

You’re responsible for creating your own success in your sales career.

You’re going to receive a ton of sales advice from all quarters about what you should do to improve. You need to be a skeptic to sort through it all.

Challenge the assumptions underlying the advice and define your own path; the path you’re going to follow.

This will mean taking steps to disrupt and optimize your own sales process.

You'll need to take the risks to (respectfully) question and push back against directions from managers that you feel are ineffective.

You must be willing to take a risk to do what you think is necessary to develop your unique strengths, to increase your sales readiness and become more relevant and responsive to your buyers.

Do you want to become the best at what you do?

Embrace your skepticism. Question the experts. Crank up your curiosity. Challenge your buyers. Take risks.

And, understand your "why."

It’s not just the existential “why” of 'why am I selling and do I find fulfillment in that?'

It’s the very tactical “why” of 'why am I selling the way I do? And do my buyers find value in the help that I provide?'

It’s a question you need to frequently ask yourself.

It’s your responsibility to yourself, and whatever success you want to achieve, to constantly ask “Why?”

Why will that process or strategy work for me?

Why and how will it enable me to help my buyer make their decisions?

Why wouldn’t something else work better?

Remember, it's your career. No one cares about your success as much as you do.

Question everything.