Sales superstars take responsibility for their success and their failure. Most importantly they don’t make excuses for the way things are. They recognize what they have done well and what they haven’t done well. This allows them to internalize lessons from failure so that they continue to improve.
Poor salespeople take all the credit for success and none for failure. Instead of owning their failures they choose to blame outside factors like “The economy is bad”, “Our region isn’t growing”, or “It all came down to price and we weren’t lowest.” By blaming factors outside their control, poor salespeople ingrain themselves in a cycle of failure where it's impossible to improve. Not taking responsibility for failure ensures that they won’t change anything they are doing and their success is left up to fate. Most poor salespeople compound this mistake by finding articles or other data to support their excuse while ignoring facts that contradict the excuse which prevents them from growing and learning better ways of selling.
Instead of making excuses for failure, sales superstars embrace it as a valuable learning opportunity. They learn from the experience and strive not to repeat the same mistake. They acknowledge where they could have done better and downplay the factors they have no control over. Sales superstars take responsibility so that they can improve their skills.
When a sales superstar is successful they are not overly modest. They recognize their role in the success and learn from what they did well. This doesn’t mean they don’t give others credit where it is due. It means that they recognize what they did well and take responsibility for their part. This reinforces their strengths and provides a system for success.
No matter what the outcome, take responsibility for what has happened. Don’t become a victim of outside factors and excuses. Instead understand what you can control and what you can’t control. Accept what you can’t control and put all of your energy into what you can control. While failures are inevitable taking responsibility for the outcome allows you to apply the lessons learned which will generate successful outcomes.
