A Successful Life is About the Journey; But What is Successful Selling About?

A successful life is all about the journey: friends old and new, school, jobs menial and important, family, activities, sports, hobbies, causes, contributions, travels, learning, experiencing, feeling, growing, challenging, committing, overcoming, enjoying, being...

But successful selling isn't about the journey. It's about the destination.

If you think selling is all about the journey, you may be one of the gazillions of salespeople out there who love talking to people, who love meeting people, who love the action and the interaction, who are passionate about their product or service, but who can't get to the producing revenue part of the equation any more often than the average sales representative.

Don't get my wrong: the journey is very important in selling. And you certainly have to enjoy the journey or you will be miserable in a sales career. Yes, selecting the right path and the correct behaviors will get you to your destination in selling or in anything. In fact, I make my living helping people improve and enhance their journey.

But what's important is that the journey gets you to where you must go if you earn your living selling.

The world is full of salespeople who love their product, their company, the action...but can't sell. Don't be one of those people. The destination in our profession, whether the process is simple or complex, is a completed buying transaction.

Commit to the destination. Commit to the deal.

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Read "Working in Sales? Don't Make These 5 Common Career Mistakes," an interview I did for examiner.com.

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Today is September 1, which means that two-thirds of 2009 is now history. You have one-third of the year to make your team's - or your individual - sales goal for 2009.

It's not too late. Contact us to see how we can provide sales training that will help you make your year!

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance markets.

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